The Government of the Canary Islands has presented the draft Law on Sustainable Management of Tourist Accommodation, which will provide city councils with tools to plan and organise tourist accommodation. The new standard establishes that 90% of the residential buildable area must be used as a permanent residence and establishes the reasons for which accommodation can be enabled. Current properties intended as holiday homes and/or tourist accommodation must meet minimum requirements of sustainability, quality and competitiveness.
The new standard establishes, in a general and flexible manner, that 90% of the residential buildable area must be allocated to permanent residences, while 80% will apply to the Green Islands.
This draft also establishes the reasons why accommodation can be enabled. Properties intended as holiday homes and/or tourist accommodation must meet minimum requirements of sustainability, quality and competitiveness.
There will be a five-year transitional regime for holiday homes that legally carry out the activity so they can adapt to these criteria. They must pass an inspection to verify that they meet these parameters and if they are penalised, they will not be able to carry out tourism activities for ten years.
According to data provided by the Canary Islands Government, there are 53,938 tourist apartments registered in the General Tourist Registry of the Canary Islands for a total of 220,409 places – 39.7% more than in November 2022.
Tenerife (22,756) is the island with the most tourist apartments. They are followed by Gran Canaria (13,229), Lanzarote (7,577), Fuerteventura (7,046), La Palma (1,667), La Gomera (1,119) and El Hierro (544). The percentage of tourist apartments out of the total number of census homes reaches 4.37% of the total in the province of Las Palmas, while in Santa Cruz de Tenerife it is 3.78%.
In municipalities such as Yaiza (Lanzarote), holiday homes account for 22% of the total number of homes. Other noteworthy places are La Oliva (Fuerteventura), with 21.5%, San Bartolome de Tirajana (Gran Canaria), with 10.62%, Adeje (Tenerife), with 13.35% or Hermigua (La Gomera), with up to 10.72%.
The Minister of Tourism and Employment of the Canary Islands, Jéssica de León, has stated that "this law seeks a balance between the right to housing, the right to freedom of enterprise, and the right of all Canary Islanders to preserve their identity, their environment, their cities and towns and that of the 54,284 vacation homeowners to have an additional income.”
The Canarian Vacation Rental Association (Ascav) condemns that homes in multi-family buildings, semi-detached buildings, on agricultural settlements and out of planning are not included, as well as those that offer more than eight beds.
The employers' association has expressed its rejection of the draft law by leaving “tourist homes in the Canary Islands mortally wounded,” and they call it one of the most restrictive directives in Spain and the EU. “The draft bill published by the regional government is a real moratorium on holiday homes, as they will not be allowed higher unless expressly authorised by municipal planning.”
Likewise, new builds must be used for residential use for at least ten years before they can be marketed as holiday homes. The start of the activity will be subject to the presentation of a responsible declaration, which must be accompanied by a technical report of classified activity, as well as an urban planning certificate, and homes subject to any welfare system may not be used for tourist purposes.
In addition, it aims to provide city councils with the tools to enable them to adapt their urban planning regulations and define where they want tourist apartments to be located. The Canary Islands Government has launched the Holiday Housing Dashboard, a digital tool that allows real-time, geo-referenced consultation of the evolution of this type of accommodation.
"It will be the towns and cities that have developed or are developing their urban plans that can articulate measures to do so more efficiently", stressing that "there can only be holiday homes when the urban planning states that there can be", said the councillor during the presentation of the Draft Bill.
With the new law, residential plots will not be allowed for exclusive use as accommodation in any form of tourist accommodation. This is a change concerning the current regulation, which does not establish qualitative or quantitative limits, and where any home can be used for this purpose with a responsible declaration.
Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, Director General of Tourism Management, Training and Promotion, pointed out that "when local councils have not specified the uses, there can be no holiday housing" and added that "proof must be provided that the town has enough land for permanent housing, that it is not affected by the rules of the stressed residential market; it will also be essential to argue that the development is compatible with the residential tourist use and they will have to use sustainability indicators".
The start of the activity will be subject to the presentation of a responsible declaration, which must be accompanied by a technical report of classified activity, as well as an urban planning certificate, and homes subject to any public welfare system may not be used for tourist purposes.
The Canaries and the Balearics, the happiest best-valued regions to buy
When buying a home, many factors are considered before deciding on a location, but generally quality of life and weather conditions are valued. In this sense, the Canary Islands would be the best-valued in Spain, followed by the Balearic Islands, according to the Spain Happy Index, prepared by Sonneil, the Spanish technology marketer specialising in second-hand home sales.