The Habtur holiday rentals association in the Balearics is proposing that properties should have automated noise control systems.
These notify owners and the police (if necessary) if tenants are causing too much disturbance. Maria Gibert, the Habtur manager, says that these systems are already used in Barcelona and Valencia and that the association has spoken to the Council of Mallorca about their adoption on the island.
"We seek social sustainability," she stressed on Wednesday, commenting favourably on the Council's plan for tourism inspectors to pretend to be clients as a way of tacking illegal holiday lets. She added that the association had in fact suggested this to the Council. "We think it's great. We hope that it will have a deterrent effect and that sanctions will be processed more quickly."
On this plan, by which inspectors will use credit cards to make bookings and therefore get details as to illegal lets, the president of the Spanish Association of Scientific Experts in Tourism and Professor of Administrative Law at the University of the Balearic Islands, Felio Bauzá, said on Wednesday that he believes that it is "outdated". There are digital solutions, such as the Spider web tracker, which are "faster" and "accurate", and there is jurisprudence that supports this method.