Calls for better regulation of private holiday accommodation

Exceltur, the organisation which brings together major companies in the tourism sector, has presented a report in which it calls for a new legal framework to be established in order to tackle the negative effects of the increase in the rental of properties for tourism use that has come about because of the popularity of various websites.
 The report, prepared by Ernst & Young and with the collaboration of the market research company Nielsen and the legal firm, Tourism & Law, concludes that better regulation could result in the raising of 800 million euros annually.
The vice-president of Exceltur, José Luis Zoreda, has indicated that this type of rental is clearly lucrative and will grow significantly and has taken advantage of an inadequate legal framework.
He says that only six regions of Spain - Aragon, the Balearics, the Canary Islands, Cantabria, Catalonia and Madrid - have in fact regulated this sector.
The report notes that accommodation of this type generates less employment than that which is regulated: 9.8 jobs versus 53.3 jobs for every one hundred places on offer.
Zoreda has stressed that the tourism associated with this accommodation for tourism of short duration (sometimes referred to as the “hotelisation” of properties) does not bring about new demand that is distinct from what currently exists and that it produces a daily economic impact on a destination that is 85% inferior to that from regulated accommodation.
The “unfair competition” provided by this accommodation, Exceltur considers, will in fact affect the sustainability of the Spanish tourism sector.
Currently, 73% of this rental accommodation is in the centres and tourist zones of cities, something which has also led to a rising price of housing, which in turn is meaning that the resident population is disadvantaged.
One of every eleven properties in the twelve main Spanish cities, the report argues, is dedicated to tourist rental.
As a consequence, 59% of residents suffer a decline in their quality of life, 80% are affected by noise and 70% by uncleanliness, while 42% say that they feel less secure and 75% that they have to pay more for the deterioration in communal areas.