The plenary session of the Parliament of the Canary Islands approved this Wednesday, with the dissenting votes of PSOE, Nueva Canarias, and Vox, the law that will regulate vacation rentals on the islands and whose objective is, as stated in the norm itself, to guarantee access to housing, avoid gentrification, and curb the massive replacement of residential homes with tourist ones.
Its processing has clashed with the rejection of the main employers' association in the sector, the Canary Islands Vacation Rental Association (Ascav), which maintains that it will expel thousands of owners from the market and will mean "the practical eradication" of their activity.
However, the **Canary Islands Government** (CC, PP, Agrupación Herreña Independiente, and Agrupación Socialista Gomera) argues that it is **necessary to limit the uncontrolled growth** of vacation homes and advocates for leaving the decision-making power to municipalities and prioritizing the right to housing
The opposition has denied it the vote because it considers that it benefits tourism business owners and expels residents from vacation areas.
The law considers the tourist use of homes not to be residential use, but rather an economic or lodging activity that, therefore, may only be carried out when municipal urban planning expressly authorizes it.
Municipal councils will take on the role of planning and justifying which areas of the municipality permit the establishment of tourist accommodation, based on criteria of sustainability, carrying capacity, and territorial balance.
Land classified as residential is primarily reserved for permanent housing use, so that 80% of residential land must be allocated to habitual residence
On tourist islands or municipalities with high market pressure, this reserve is raised to 90%, and in the case of the green islands (La Palma, La Gomera, and El Hierro) and in depopulated municipalities, local councils may relax this percentage to promote local development.
With this law, a dwelling can only be used for tourist purposes if the urban planning expressly allows it and a minimum age is established as a requirement: dwellings must have been used for a determined period as habitual residences before becoming tourist accommodations, in order to prevent new dwellings from being built directly for vacation use.
Municipalities will be able to reduce this requirement in areas where there is no tension in the residential market.
Tourist use prohibited in protected housing and natural spaces
The use of protected housing (VPO) for tourism is also prohibited, and it will not be authorized on rural land, protected natural areas, or in Natura 2000 network zones, unless environmental planning expressly justifies it
In areas declared as tense markets, the granting of new tourist housing licenses will be suspended. To date, the Canary Islands Government has not declared any, although several town councils have requested it, such as Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
Current owners of already registered vacation homes will not lose their authorization, but new applications will depend on municipal planning and new tourist homes cannot be registered if the municipality does not allow it.
The Minister of Tourism admits it is a "difficult" law
The Minister of Tourism, Jessica de León (PP), has admitted that the rule has been "very complicated to process" and "difficult to internalize, explain, and manage the amendment period," while thanking the parliamentary groups that support the Government for having been "at the service of the general interest," without being "hostages to political tactics."
PSOE and NC, opposition parties, have complained that the law has passed without consensus, as it has not included any amendments from the opposition. Furthermore, they reproach that it benefits tourism businessmen and expels residents from tourist areas.
Specifically, PSOE deputy Gustavo Santana has denounced that the law has generated a pull effect by not having suspended licenses at the beginning of its long processing period (20 months).According to their figures, they have added 32,000 vacation homes in that period, more than were built in the last 30 years
The PSOE deputy also regretted that the opportunity to limit to three the number of homes that a single individual can exploit has been lost, so that small property owners are the true beneficiaries of the regulation of vacation rentals in the Canary Islands, where 81,632 are in the hands of large holders.
For its part, NC deputy Esther González lamented that her party presented 34 amendments, and the Government accepted none, to defend the right of thousands of Canary Islands families "to rent and not be driven from their land" instead of protecting "the rights of the usual suspects," as she believes the approved law does.In his opinion, the law, which "hands over the keys to the future of the Canary Islands to the four businessmen of the moment," supports tourism interests, points a finger at small property owners, and punishes the 89% of Canary Islanders who rent out their homes to make ends meet, equating them with large property holders, whom, he has warned, this regulation protects
Vox deputy Paula Jover recalled that her party submitted an amendment in its entirety requesting that the law be withdrawn because "it solves nothing and makes everything worse" and places an excessive burden on small owners, overlooks squatting, and does not respect private property.
The four groups supporting the Canary Islands Government, CC, PP, Agrupación Herreña Independiente, and Agrupación Socialista Gomera, have praised the law because it "sustainably regulates" holiday rentals, according to the PP, and also because it sets clear limits to prevent residential tourism from displacing residents and making housing access "even more" expensive, defended CC deputy Socorro Beato.
From the Agrupación Herreña Independiente, they have defended that it is a law that orders and does not prohibit and takes into account the diversity of tourist models on the islands, while the Agrupación Socialista Gomera has recalled that there are residents of La Gomera who rent their homes to tourists to pay for their children's university studies and has denied that this causes a housing shortage on the islands.