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New law to prohibit short term rentals?

peregrina2000

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A friend of mine has asked me whether I've heard anything about a new law in Galicia that will prohibit (or regulate) short term apartment (less than one month) vacation rentals. I did a bit of googling and saw that this is indeed a topic that the Xunta is going to consider, but I can't find any information on whether anything has passed, or even whether any specific bill has been introduced.

http://www.laopinioncoruna.es/galicia/2016/09/16/decreto-regula-alquiler-pisos-turistas/1107081.html

Anyone know anything about this? Thanks, buen camino, Laurie
 
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The law has not yet passed, it will have to wait until after the elections. Nowhere it is mentioned that short time apartment rentals for vacations will be prohibited. Please do not spread such rumours.
 
These type of "movements" seem to be happening in tourist areas in response to the success of companies similar to AirBnB. You will be able to read about such actions in Paris, New York, etc. More often than not the local hotel industry feel they are harmed by private citizens renting out their second homes/apartments, which is creating strong competition. The global success of such movements is contingent upon how active the hotel industry is versus that of private citizens.

It is not so much rumor as just a sign of the times. Though I admit that I have not followed this specific legal action, I don't see it as a threat to the vast majority of Camino establishments that service pilgrims and all those who are on Camino. The focus is on private citizens renting to tourists, which harms the hospitality industry.
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
I'm sorry if a request for information was interpreted as spreading rumors, that was certainly not my intention. Thanks so much, Kathar1na for finding articles that answer the question.

In May a new law will require the owners of all short term tourist rentals to register their places with the Xunta. Failure to register will trigger penalties, from 900- 9,000 euros.

The article also describes how municipal land use regulation may apply to prohibit or limit "tourist housing" and it will be up to each concello (roughly, a municipality) to determine whether to allow it or not. So, depending on the politics of a particular locale, it does seem like prohibition is a possibility, though nothing has happened yet because the law doesn't become effective till May. We'll just have to wait and see, I guess.

Some of the parts of this law seem logical -- ensuring that airBnB type places comply with health and sanitary regulations; licensing owners who engage in this type of commerce; and requiring owners to declare rental revenue as income. But both Michael above and the articles linked to by Kathar1na make clear that a big part of the impetus was the pressure brought to bear by the hotel industry, which sees these places as unfair competition. I don't know enough about the underlying economics to know what the better interpretation is, but it does seem like there could be some substantial changes coming to the short term vacation rental industry in Spain.
 
Phew, that sounds as though it wont be as restrictive as I first thought. I spent several days in a beautiful little apartment in Santiago after my camino. It was on the camino just before the old town, and my favourite occupation was sitting on the balcony watching the steady trickle of end of season pilgrims making their way towards the Cathedral. Loved every minute of that stay and am hoping to do the same again this next time around.
 
I think that the central concern is the high level of informal and unregistered accommodation being offered to visitors to Santiago. Being unregistered means proper standards of safety and insurance cannot be regulated. In Santiago this has reached huge numbers - the popularity of Airbnb in the city has simply highlighted what everyone has known for a long time.
Recently whilst looking for accommodation for someone I visited an apartment to rent looking onto the Plaza Obradoiro. It had two bedrooms, a lounge, kitchen and one bathroom. 10 beds had been crammed into this "cash only please" vacation accommodation with not a smoke detector or fire extinguisher in sight.
More power to the authorities trying to stamp out unsafe rip off accommodation.
 
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I think that the central concern is the high level of informal and unregistered accommodation... Recently whilst looking for accommodation for someone I visited an apartment to rent looking onto the Plaza Obradoiro. It had two bedrooms, a lounge, kitchen and one bathroom. 10 beds had been crammed into this "cash only please" vacation accommodation with not a smoke detector or fire extinguisher in sight.
More power to the authorities trying to stamp out unsafe rip off accommodation.

Hola Johnnie - may one inquire - did you report this one? It appears to be exactly the style of accommodation the authorities are attempting to stamp out?? In fact to my understanding (and remembering the unit I rented for 4 nights) the one above would not pass even the current regulations. Thanks for the "explanation". Cheers
 
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AirBnB is getting pushed back in a number of places
On the other hand some are being pushed into listing with AirBnB.

On a recent trip where I stayed with a family at a home listed with AirBnB I found out that foreigners were buying local homes for investments. The homes were not being occupied by the owners and not being rented out to either tourists or locals. This caused property values to be driven up and thus also property taxes. Some home owners took to renting their places on AirBnB to get extra money to be able to afford to live in their own homes.
 
A friend of mine has asked me whether I've heard anything about a new law in Galicia that will prohibit (or regulate) short term apartment (less than one month) vacation rentals. I did a bit of googling and saw that this is indeed a topic that the Xunta is going to consider, but I can't find any information on whether anything has passed, or even whether any specific bill has been introduced.

http://www.laopinioncoruna.es/galicia/2016/09/16/decreto-regula-alquiler-pisos-turistas/1107081.html

Anyone know anything about this? Thanks, buen camino, Laurie
As @trecile says, there's strong movement against AirBnB in many cities. Investors push real estate values up because they can earn so much from constant short term rents. Governments of cities like Barcelona which are becoming overrun by mass tourism are very concerned about neighbourhoods maybe becoming dormitory areas and their character evaporating as locals are squeezed out of their homes. There's a push here in Sydney against AirBnB for this reason. Investors love the idea, many locals hate it. Other cities I've read about which are pushing back are Paris and New York. I think the strategy is to pass local laws which increase the shortest allowable rental period. I've also read that some investors currently buy large numbers of properties and run de facto hotels with AirBNB managing and marketing rentals. The original idea might have been that homeowners were able to make a few extra bucks by renting out a spare room or a small attached apartment. I stayed in Madrid (AirBnB again) for a few days last year and the very nice young owner of the tiny apartment moved out while I was there - I got the feeling that he was going to stay at his girlfriend's place, he walked out after welcoming me, carrying a few plastic bags. I stayed in a small apartment in Paris last year - I got a very good deal and a big discount for a month's stay via AirBnB. The owner lived in San Francisco, but he obviously wasn't wealthy. Berlin has local laws which protect renters and the character of key inner city areas. I don't think AirBnB has got much of a foothold there.

Maybe Galicia is watching and being careful to guard the character of towns and cities as tourism is such a huge, key business there.

It seems a volatile subject. I've read bits and pieces often lately. AirBnB and Uber have been set up by very smart Silicon Valley folks who only have to develop an app and a website and expand it worldwide with minimal overheads. All you need to be an Uber driver is a car, a smartphone and an app - no $200,000 taxi license. Uber drivers are notoriously underpaid, and Uber is apparently investing heavily in driverless car software! Some countries are looking at a guaranteed minimum wage to be paid to all citizens as automation eliminates jobs. Software+marketing+lawyers = capitalism hard at work on new "business models". I for one won't use AirBnB again.

Mike
 
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Another issue that has arisen with Airbnb, is that property owners can make more money by renting out on a nightly or weekly basis, rather than to long term tenants, and is causing an increase in rents for locals.
I saw this sign in Barcelona a couple of years ago
View attachment 32017
We have the same problem in Lisbon and Porto...
It's starting to get impossible for the average portuguese person to live... in Portugal.

For exemple, some owners are leaving the "college students" market and going to the AirBNB and, as a consequence, the ones that continue renting to students started raising the prices to a point that is unbearable for some students.

Not long ago, it was easy to rent an average/good bedroom for 200€/250€
Now is easy to find a dump at 250€/300€...
It might no seem a big diference but keep in mind that the minimal wage in Portugal is just a little above 500€

I know many cases of students that were accepted in universities in Lisbon but were unable to find a bedroom that they could afford and had to go back to their hometowns, leaving university behind...

I love having tourists in my country but if that means that we'll have to move out of our own cities, I rather have the tourists going someplace else. (but the best option would be to find a middle ground)
 
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We have the same problem in Lisbon and Porto...
It's starting to get impossible for the average portuguese person to live... in Portugal.

For exemple, some owners are leaving the "college students" market and going to the AirBNB and, as a consequence, the ones that continue renting to students started raising the prices to a point that is unbearable for some students.

Not long ago, it was easy to rent an average/good bedroom for 200€/250€
Now is easy to find a dump at 250€/300€...
It might no seem a big diference but keep in mind that the minimal wage in Portugal is just a little above 500€

I know many cases of students that were accepted in universities in Lisbon but were unable to find a bedroom that they could afford and had to go back to their hometowns, leaving university behind...

I love having tourists in my country but if that means that we'll have to move out of our own cities, I rather have the tourists going someplace else. (but the best option would be to find a middle ground)
Another problem I've seen in Lisbon is that because of the fact that you can get a residential visa in Portugal if you spend 500,000 € on an apartment, parts of Lisbon are filled with building that are essentially unoccupied and whose construction cost was a few céntimos over the 500,000 mark. The owners apparently have no intention to ever even go to Lisbon, they are just happy with their EU visa. A friend of mine figured out a way to contact one of the owners and is now living in a fancy new apartment at a very low rent, but it's kind of like living in a ghost town. And it's true that many owners don't want to rent, they just want their 500,000 investment to be closed up.

This is not something that the Galego decreto ley is going to solve but it is another part of the affordability crunch for regular people. So many facets to this issue -- I realize it would be unfair to brush the whole thing off as a monopolistic attempt by the greedy hotel industry to eliminate competition. There may be some of that going on, but there is a lot more going on as well. Isn't life complicated?!
 
It is a worldwide issue triggered by extremely low interest rates, and lax lending standards, with large pools of money being invested in real estate - especially urban real estate, to serve no other function than to be an investment asset.

In some areas its fuelling a building boom driving up local accommodation and living costs, and enriching a select group of individuals and governments at the expense of the local resident population. Mostly these assets are left vacant. Some are rented out to travellers and tourists.

it will come to an end, maybe sooner than most expect but there has been and will be consequences for years to follow.

The rise and popularity of AirBnB is just a perfect example and outcome of what has happened.

Most have seen this movie before but many have forgotten how it normally ends.
 
Basically the issue relates to restricting unfair competition. The "uprisings" are already taking place in several countries and hospitality-intensive towns.
Hotels, hostals, pensiones and similar hospitality institutions are required to have specific infrastructures, register with Muni (licences), salud, tax authorities, labour, and carry insurance, etc. Expensive, sometimes complicated sets of rules and regulations. It appears reasonable, therefore, that "competition" should adhere to the same obligations. How, and to what extent this will eventually be enforced, has to be seen.:eek:
 
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Aside from the economics, keep in mind that people/families who live in those buildings may not like having transients occupying some suites - with different people coming and going every day, creating security concerns.
News reports about misbehaving and destructive AirBnB tennants all seem the same: Tennants are maybe blacklisted, but AirBnB has to be pushed very hard by lessors to help get financial compensation for what is often vicious and extensive damage (this has happened here in Sydney http://www.smh.com.au/national/airb...urn-it-into-a-junkie-den-20160902-gr7ej9.html). Reluctance to offer redress may seem counterproductive of AirBnB, you might say. Or maybe AirBnB cares more about the broader market (i.e., money) than the "clients" they profess to represent.
 
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I think that the central concern is the high level of informal and unregistered accommodation being offered to visitors to Santiago. Being unregistered means proper standards of safety and insurance cannot be regulated. In Santiago this has reached huge numbers - the popularity of Airbnb in the city has simply highlighted what everyone has known for a long time.
Recently whilst looking for accommodation for someone I visited an apartment to rent looking onto the Plaza Obradoiro. It had two bedrooms, a lounge, kitchen and one bathroom. 10 beds had been crammed into this "cash only please" vacation accommodation with not a smoke detector or fire extinguisher in sight.
More power to the authorities trying to stamp out unsafe rip off accommodation.

Apart from these excellent points about health & safety and rip-offs and so on, I imagine that these measures also have an eye on migrancy control in the current international security situation.
 
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I wouldn't distract from the many more obvious and direct reasons, to introduce this remote reason.

Far from it ,
When in Hotels you produce passports and /or Visa
Every place that accommodates should be subject to every [ too many i know] regulation that occurs in relation to health and security to public.
I know in Australia there is a paper being prepared that all Air B&B will be subject to strict local and ATO laws.
You apply with a company name, and if required approval from Body Corps to register your place / room .
You would not want to be on a pension or any form of Gov't assistance and get caught,
 
The focus is on reducing the risk of failure through being well prepared. 2nd ed.
Far from it ,
When in Hotels you produce passports and /or Visa
Every place that accommodates should be subject to every [ too many i know] regulation that occurs in relation to health and security to public.
I know in Australia there is a paper being prepared that all Air B&B will be subject to strict local and ATO laws.
You apply with a company name, and if required approval from Body Corps to register your place / room .
You would not want to be on a pension or any form of Gov't assistance and get caught,
I don't disagree with anything you say in this reply to my comment, and don't quite understand what is "far from it." I was just trying to say that the rules around Air B&Bs have many good reasons, and I don't think "migrancy control in the current international security situation" is one of them.
 
I don't disagree with anything you say in this reply to my comment, and don't quite understand what is "far from it." I was just trying to say that the rules around Air B&Bs have many good reasons, and I don't think "migrancy control in the current international security situation" is one of them.

Our rules are changing CC to allow the Gov't to know where everyone is , and i mean everyone.
Expired travel visa's , expired student visa's etc etc.
They will bring all operators of rental rooms under the one umbrella .
 
I totally understand the downside to the Airbnb phenomenon. Rents rising, loss of affordable housing, impingement on neighbors, etc. No arguments from me, and municipalities need to find a way to manage for the benefit of their residents (but not necessarily the hotel or taxi industry)

To play devil's advocate, though.....there is a big difference between a landlord turning a once long-term full apartment or house rental in to an Airbnb, and someone who rents out a room in the house/apartment that they live in. I've stayed in many Airbnb's (including Madrid, Pamplona and Leon) and most of the time it has been with a local who has had the fun of helping me to enjoy his/her city. I doubt that any of these people had given up a long-term renter, sharing their own apartment, in order to do the short-term Airbnb. In other words...not all Airbnb hosts/situations are the same. Try not to compare apples to oranges.

In fact, I came home from Camino last year so inspired by how one can help a traveler and really impact their travel experience, that I am now an Airbnb host, here in San Jose (Silicon Valley). We use a room in our house, one that we would NOT be willing to rent to a full-time housemate. I treat each traveler like a pilgrim...in some ways this brings me closer to my Camino experience.

Just wanted to be a voice for the positive aspects of the Airbnb experience.
 
€2,-/day will present your project to thousands of visitors each day. All interested in the Camino de Santiago.

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