Over the past week, a number of politicians in the Balearics have issued fresh demands for controls and even caps on foreign property purchases in the region and it would appear that the Spanish government shares their concerns. The Minister of Housing and Urban Agenda, Isabel Rodríguez, has this week advocated for Europe to allow Member States to take action in stressed areas affected by ‘uncontrolled’ price rises and tourist pressure, with measures such as banning speculative home purchases and the sale of social housing to vulture funds.
This was conveyed by the minister at a working meeting with the Canary Islands Government’s Minister of Public Works, Housing and Mobility, Pablo Rodríguez, which was also attended by the Secretary of State for Housing and Urban Agenda, David Lucas, and the Director General of Housing and Land, Javier Martín.
The minister and the councillor discussed other matters of interest, including the State Housing Plan, the declaration of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria as a tense housing market area, the need to regulate the tourist rental market and the progress of the Ministry’s investments in the Canary Islands.
The Ministry recalled in a statement that the Spanish Government will transfer €222.6 million to the Canary Islands over the next five years for public housing policies. This means that the total investment will represent an increase of 373% compared to the current State Plan.
During the process, the Ministry and the Canary Islands have agreed to include various requests from the regional government. These include financing the costs of managing and implementing the Plan with its own funds, improvements in aid to combat depopulation and mobilise empty homes, and greater flexibility in aid for young people, among others.
At the meeting, Rodríguez committed to prioritising residential rentals over other types of rentals. He defended ‘bold’ regulation of tourist rentals and the need to move forward with the declaration of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria as a tense housing market area.