An Analysis of the Holiday Rental Issue in Spain

Nicolás Navarro

doi:10.13060/23362839.2021.8.1.522

Abstract

Holiday lets and holiday rentals have generated a major debate in recent years in Spain with regard to their regulation. Their impact, not only on tourism, but also on urban sustainability and local planning, have led to public intervention to control their expansion. This article analyses the origin of holiday lets, their problems, and how the public authorities have intervened in this regard, thus providing an overview of the impact of this type of accommodation in Spain.

Highlights

Holiday rentals have generated a major debate in Spain, with many conflicting parties and conflicting interests
The fact that many owners were offering their property with extra tourist services meant that this legal concept was not really applicable, as we were dealing with tourist accommodation or a letting agreement, a mixed contract in which the rental of something is combined with the rental of services. It is not regulated by the LAU and we find few provisions relating to it in the Civil Code and it is characterised by the fact that its legislation is basically structured through tourism regulations (Castaños 2014)
This phase gave way to another phase, one of concern due to the uncontrolled expansion of this phenomenon in response to a boom in collaborative tourism, platforms such as Airbnb and, above all, as a result of the legal vacuum in Spain regarding new forms of holiday rentals, such as holiday lets. This was followed by a third phase, a time of regulation, as the Autonomous Communities actively intervened to regulate this phenomenon and introduced inspection systems to monitor the appearance of illegal tourist accommodation

Summary

Introduction

Holiday rentals have generated a major debate in Spain, with many conflicting parties and conflicting interests. Having emerged in the context of the collaborative economy, for many years they were not subject to regulation, which led to harsh criticism from the hotel industry as a result of their being a focus of unfair competition This legal vacuum led to many owners using empty properties or second homes for tourism purposes, owing to the high demand for these accommodations by tourists looking for good value accommodation. This new section establishes that the applicability of the LAU excludes cases that involve the temporary rental of furnished accommodation equipped for immediate use, as well as any accommodation marketed or promoted in tourist distribution channels or for financial gain This led to the regulation of this form of tourism by the Autonomous Communities, which are the competent authority in accordance with the distribution of powers set out in the Spanish Constitution (Article 148.1.18).

Little regional regulation Source

Findings

Conclusion