Why is it so difficult to identify illegal holiday lets and close them down? How often does one hear this asked? Don't the authorities, principally the Council of Mallorca's tourism inspectorate, have all the tools at their disposal? And isn't it now the case that there are more inspectors than ever? There are indeed more. But how many does the Council ultimately need if all that happens is that it runs up against procedures that "go on forever", to quote the tourism councillor, José Marcial Rodríguez.
He recently admitted that he didn't know how many of the properties that get sanctioned end up closing. Only a few, he reckoned; around ten per cent. He had grown sick and tired of drawing up reports, only for the interminable procedures to drag everything out. Subsequently, he was able to announce (this was towards the end of July) that the Balearic government's administrative simplification decree would enable the Council to close down the illegal activity at the start of the sanctioning procedure.
This has been a problem that he, his predecessors at the Council and the Balearic government, before it transferred responsibilities to the Council, have had to face. Illegal properties can be identified, procedures can be started, but the activity is allowed to carry on while the procedures are carried out. Ridiculous? Many have believed so, hence the adoption of this new approach, with a more or less immediate handing of files to the Prosecutor's Office (no later than seven days).
Good. Or it seemed good before the Spanish government took exception to the administrative simplification decree. Not on political grounds, but constitutional; the decree mechanism wasn't appropriate for the nature of the legislation. The two governments will have to try and hammer it out and arrive at an acceptable solution. If not, the Constitutional Court will be brought in. And that will mean a suspension of the decree while our learned friends consider the arguments of both parties.
Rodríguez will be tearing his hair out if this apparently sensible change to procedure is caught up in this arcane technicality of constitutional law. At least he isn't hindered in doubling the fines for illegal holiday lets. The minimum will now be 80,000 euros per property, his priorities being repeat offenders and the large operators. And it is the latter who arguably represent the greatest challenge.
In Barcelona, the town hall says that ten 'mafia' groups continue to operate. These groups' activities usually entail renting properties and then subletting them as illegal holiday lets (there are different 'modus operandi'). Since 2016, the town hall has put a stop to 22 such groups. Over the first fortnight of July there were inspections of 134 properties. Most belonged to one of these organised gangs, who are not only acting contrary to the law governing holiday rental, they are also defrauding property owners. Last week, the deputy mayor of Barcelona, Laia Bonet, said that there had been an increase in this type of "offender" in recent years and that they weren't always easy to detect. This is why the town hall has been working with other administrations. The Tax Agency is one because these gangs are engaged in tax fraud.
But there is more. The newspaper La Vanguardia reported last weekend on three gangs said to control around a half of the illegal lets in Barcelona. These mafias act with total disregard of procedures and regulations. Of the 134 properties, a number were sealed off. The seals were soon broken and the activity restarted. Fines are not said to worry them, and they have lawyers who know how to delay everything. Which is something that Rodríguez is well aware of, as he will also be aware of the presence of one of these three gangs in Mallorca. There is at least one property in Palma that it has been operating for around eighteen months, inviting questions as to whether there are other properties and other mafias. The answer is almost certainly yes.