In a pivotal move, the regional government gave the green light yesterday (Monday) for a new law to regulate the use of properties for tourist accommodation, as announced by the Minister of Tourism, Jéssica de León, during her appearance in the Canary Islands Parliament in September.
The new law will be used to control phenomena such as holiday rentals, which are currently governed in the archipelago by Decree Law 113/2015 which does not establish any quantitative or qualitative limits of properties allowed for tourist use.
Therefore, the regional government emphasizes that the regulation will be implemented to strike a balance between residents' housing and tourist accommodation by stopping illegal holiday rentals putting properties that should be for long-term let back into the market and bringing down the price of housing for residents, particularly in tourist areas.
Furthermore, it is worth noting that in 2020, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that the protection of the right to decent housing and the urban environment allows and justifies the intervention of regional and local authorities to regulate the tourist use of housing. Currently, there are 46,486 registered holiday homes in the Canary Islands, and several thousand more non-registered offering holiday accommodation illegally.
In addition to addressing the right to decent housing, the forthcoming law will be comprehensive and encompass aspects ranging from urban planning and territorial organization to environmental concerns, and most importantly, the definition of a sustainable development model for the Canary Islands in the near future.
The next stage will be a phase of public consultation allowing citizens to express their opinions on the future regulation of tourist housing use. Based on the information gathered, a comprehensive text will be drafted. This means that anyone interested will have the opportunity to make their contributions to the regulatory text on the government's website within one month.
At the same time, public information sessions will be held on each of the Canary Islands where Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, the Director General of Planning, Training, and Tourism Promotion, will present the key elements of the regulation. At the end of the presentation, attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and register their opinions.
These meetings will begin on October 27th at the Lanzarote Cabildo (10:00amcto 1:00pm). On the same day, sessions will be held in Fuerteventura at the Insular Youth Centre in Puerto del Rosario from 5:00pm to 8:00pm).
On October 31st, the event will take place in the Auditorium of the Government of Santa Cruz de Tenerife (10:00am to 1:00pm), and on November 2nd at the Elder Museum in the capital of Gran Canaria (10:00am to 1:00pm). Subsequently, similar meetings will be held in La Palma, La Gomera, and El Hierro.
