The Government of the Canary Islands has started the path to put an end to the limbo in which the camping areas, caravanners and motorhome users of the archipelago were with a draft regulation that all parties have celebrated and that is submitted from this Thursday to public information.
In a press conference, both the regional Minister of Tourism and Employment, Jéssica de León, and representatives of various camping and caravanning associations of the Canary Islands have expressed their happiness for the "milestone" that this draft represents, which will now be enriched with the contributions of citizens.
The general director of Tourism Planning, Miguel Ángel Rodríguez, stressed that "there will be legal certainty for all, for users, for entrepreneurs, for public administrations, and above all there will be planning", thus managing to also protect the fragile island territory.
A territory and a natural heritage that suffered today "serious effects" due to the absence of regulation of this tourist modality.
Thus, the new regulation aims to regulate what has been called "tourist accommodation establishments in the open air", since this modality is not contemplated in the Tourism Law of the Canary Islands and the only way to act on them was to provide them with this specific character, according to Rodríguez.
The general director stressed that, given the current situation, "free camping can no longer be the reality in the Canary Islands", so this rule will be "one of the cornerstones for the new tourist model" of the archipelago, so the golden rule will be planning, environmental assessment, rules, accessibility and competitiveness of this type of spaces.
Although at present, this free camping was already prohibited in the archipelago, the truth is that it was not being executed due to the ignorance of the agents or local administrations, and with this rule it is expected to be able to define each category in the best possible way to give legal certainty.
And, the general director of Tourism Planning has delved into, the Executive could not "continue in a situation of administrative vacuum" with respect to this modality so widespread among the Canarian population, and to which had been "turned its back" until today.
During the first five years, once the regulation is approved, the municipalities may enable areas that will not have the condition of tourist accommodation establishment according to the model developed by the regulation, but that may be used for the enjoyment of this activity in an orderly manner, although outside these transitional areas you can not go free.
"We all have to make an exercise of responsibility", Rodríguez remarked.
Categories in the style of a hotel and a points system
The regulation also establishes a series of categories in the facilities that will be created as a result of the rule, which have been tried to be as flexible as possible so that each island can establish its own criteria when granting stars to camping areas and overnight stays, in the style of hotels and apartments.
For this there will be a points system that will be added depending on the services that these facilities incorporate: swimming pools, associated supermarkets, complementary activities or the size of the surface, among many others.
"It is a flexible model that allows entrepreneurs to design the best installation depending on where it is going to be located and depending on the demand of tourist users", Rodríguez explained.
Compliance with the standard established in the rule will be supervised by the Tourist Inspection of the Canarian Government, although the violation in the planning of the territory will be the responsibility of the responsible Ministry, or even of the Island Councils that have the competence.
The Minister of León has assured that this is the "birth of a new tourist modality in the archipelago", while thanking the joint work "for months" of the caravanning and camping associations.
De León has insisted that each of the points of these entities has been attended to, thus achieving "a consensual text".
Representing the groups, both the member of ACAT Canarias, José Domingo Rodríguez, and the Autonomous Motorhome Platform (PACA), Jesús Gallardo, have celebrated that this regulation is launched because it represents "the first stone of a great wall that must be built between all to establish a network like the one that exists in the Peninsula".
They have pointed out that the law, born within the archipelago, "is not discriminatory, has not been arbitrary and from the point of view of the sector many years have been advanced with respect to what has been here".