The Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda has asked the public to participate in the period of public consultation on the Royal Decree that will regulate the collection and exchange of data of rental and temporary accommodation.
The Minister of Housing, Isabel Rodríguez, has announced the creation of the Single Digital Window for Leases, a doctrine that comes from Europe, and has stressed that "anyone who wants to rent their home for a short period must be registered and obtain an identification number", otherwise they will not be able to advertise said home.
From this past Monday until October 8, the public will be able to send their observations on the initiative. At this time, it is a prior consultation, that is, the draft or drafts that will arise from citizen concerns and European guidelines are not yet exposed and will be discussed later in the Council of Ministers for approval.
On April 11, the European Union approved the Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council on the collection and exchange of data on short-term accommodation rental services. This new regulation establishes a series of obligations and regulations for short-term rental services and insists that a Single Digital Window must be created.
Problems it seeks to solve
The Spanish Government has highlighted that although short-term accommodation rental services "create many opportunities for guests, hosts and the entire tourism ecosystem, their rapid growth has raised concerns and posed challenges, particularly for local communities and authorities." Among the problems it has caused, it exposes the decrease in the number of homes that are used for long-term rentals and the increase in rental and housing prices.
The Spanish Executive seeks to alleviate the "lack of reliable information" on short-term rental platforms, whether tourist or temporary residential. Thus, it has indicated that "the lack of such information makes it difficult for the authorities to assess the real impact" that these services have and "apply appropriate and proportionate policy responses." It also intends to tackle the "relevant percentage of leases" that are "in a situation of legal fraud."
