As the Spanish capital grapples with the growing phenomenon from tourist apartment accommodation in city centers – which locals say is driving up rents and causing problems for locals – regional authorities are responding with regulatory changes that aim to channel the trend.
According to the draft measures, which will be published on the Madrid regional government website on Thursday, groups representing owners of condominiums – known as communities of owners – may include in their articles of association clauses explicitly prohibiting co-owners from renting their units to short-term vacationers.
Cifuentes also opposes the idea of a “tourism tax” or a moratorium on the construction of new hotels
The new rules also hope to subject peer-to-peer vacation rental websites to penalties under regional tourism law when basic coexistence rules are not followed. But this requires online platforms to be designated as tourism businessesa particularly controversial point.
Houses intended for use as tourist accommodation must be registered on a regional list, but this rule is largely ignored throughout Madrid. No precise figures are available because the authorities have not yet conducted a reliable study on the subject.
In a press conference, Cifuentes said his People’s Party (PP) administration does not oppose vacation rentals per se. Instead, her government wants to regulate the activity to improve quality for the benefit of tourists and citizen safety, she said.
To this end, the accommodations used as holiday rentals must take out civil liability insurance and make complaint forms available to customers. Regulators also want to create a special certificate that would ensure that the accommodation has basics such as heating, cold and hot water and sufficient energy sources.
Regional authorities have been in contact with Madrid city officials over the matter, but Cifuentes said the town hall – currently under the rule of the left-wing Ahora Madrid coalition – has “an essentially prohibitionist vision which we do not share. “.
Cifuentes also said she opposes the idea of a “tourism tax” or a moratorium on building new hotels, which some local governments are considering.
The regional prime minister insisted that the situation in Madrid is not comparable in Barcelona, where the proliferation of vacation rentals is widely perceived as a growing problem.
English version by Susana Urra.
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