The Union of Professionals and Self-Employed Workers (UPTA) has denounced that three out of ten accommodations to enjoy the holidays and can be rented in Spain are private homes and lack a tourist license. In a statement published by Europa Press, the organization criticizes that the small Spanish hotel sector is exposed to “a great threat”, caused by the increase in family homes that are modified in this type of flat, with or without a tourist license. .
In his opinion, this phenomenon of the Spanish economy is mainly affected by SMEs such as rural tourism establishments, small hotels and hostels that are usually run by family units. “They contemplate astonished, how the competent administrations continue to grant authorizations to homes for tourist use without taking into account the unfair competition that occurs in the face of the strict regulatory requirements demanded of hotel establishments, the problems of coexistence that arise for residents and the high prices of residential housing rentals”, denounces the organization.
The most expensive cities
According to UPTA, the most serious problem arises when a person wants to work and needs housing in cities like Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona, Seville or in the Balearic Islands, they cannot pay what they are asking for residential housing, since , the largest property holders, dedicate them exclusively to the rental of tourist housing.
Added to this is the fact that most vacation home rentals lack a tourist license, so they operate without declaring income, “using the underground economy and causing significant damage to the sector and to public arcades.” The president of UPTA, Eduardo Abad, denounces the “exaggerated” use and permissibility of this type of establishments that in Spain are dedicated to competing unfairly “against those who pay taxes, hire people and create economic wealth.”
