Andalusia will allow local councils to limit the number of tourist flats

The Governing Council of the Andalusian Regional Government approved on Monday the new decree on tourist accommodation (VUT), tourist apartments and hotel establishments in the region, which introduces the main new feature that local councils may limit the maximum number of tourist flats per building, sector, area, period, district or zone "for imperative reasons of general interest" while keeping the inspection in the hands of the regional administration.

The Regional Minister of Tourism, Arturo Bernal, has assured that the new decree, which proposes modifications "agreed with the sector's agents", aims to improve the regulation of the more than 116,000 properties for tourist use that exist in the region and which have allowed for "deseasonalisation and increasing the supply of accommodation" in some areas but which have also generated "strains in some large cities" due to the relationship with communities of neighbours and the general population.

At a press conference, Bernal explained that the new decree "follows the criteria set out by the Supreme Court" to enable local councils to "establish, where necessary, the appropriate restrictions on the location of this type of activity in the exercise of their urban planning powers", always taking into account the "general interest" by criteria of "imperative need" as it is a regulation of the right to free enterprise.

To facilitate compliance, the Regional Government will automatically inform local councils of the registration of a property in the tourism register so that each town or city can check its compatibility with the current urban planning or zoning.

The Regional Government retains inspection and control powers

The autonomous administration reserves the power to inspect tourist accommodation, although Bernal has indicated that the Regional Government was already working in collaboration with the tourism sector and the Andalusian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FAMP) "on an ambitious medium- and long-term strategy to automate processes and enhance the digital inspection and control tools" of these facilities.

The amendment incorporates new requirements concerning those foreseen in Decree 28/216 of 2 February to exercise an economic activity, such as providing tourist accommodation services, by European and national regulations that regulate the principles of free access to the market.

It also strengthens the legal status of companies operating tourist accommodation to professionalise the activity, facilitate relations with the tourism administration and guarantee the rights and duties of users.

Other modifications are aimed at updating the requirements and demands for habitability, conditioning or common services to guarantee a higher quality in providing services and protecting users’ rights, such as the maximum surface area per person, number of bathrooms or air conditioning, among others.

Extension of the occupancy period

Regarding tourist flats, different specialities are regulated, stressing that no establishment may discriminate against or prohibit non-preferential groups and extending the accommodation occupancy period from 3 pm on the first day of the contracted period to 11 am on the day indicated as the date of departure.

The decree also defines and establishes the different groups of tourist flat establishments. It also removes some of the requirements for providing the tourist accommodation service in the wake of the recent regulation of hotel establishments, removing the demand for structural obligations when those corresponding to the sectoral regulations already make them suitable for the intended purpose.

Finally, the decree includes modifications so that hotels and aparthotels can offer complementary services to users of the establishment in the building, even provided by persons or entities other than the owner of the tourist accommodation, provided that they meet some requirements, without affecting the principle of unity of operation.

Bernal explained that the new decree can be applied from its publication in the Official Gazette of the Andalusian Regional Government (BOJA), although it sets a deadline of one year for tourist flats to comply with the new conditions of habitability and comfort requirements established in the regulation.

When asked about giving local councils the go-ahead to establish a tourist tax, the Minister of Tourism assured that the Regional Government does not have a "rigid position" on this matter but has closed the door to implementing it because "tourism sector agents do not want to talk about this issue".

"As soon as we are receptive, the Regional Government will be there to look for solutions", said Bernal, who linked the demands to apply the tourist tax in cities to the poor situation of the municipal treasuries and defended that it is the central state administration "which must improve local financing".