“The new Tourist Housing Law, a new decree from the Andalusian Government, leaves everything in the hands of others.”

“The autonomous regions are overwhelmed by the proliferation of tourist housing. This surge in the Spanish offering was surprising, forcing the implementation of legislation urgently.

Here in Andalusia, a new decree has been introduced this week. The regulations, unsatisfactory for almost everyone, raise uncertainties about their effectiveness by transferring responsibility to the municipalities. This decree could mitigate the excess of tourist accommodations in central areas; it is necessary to adapt to the current reality. The law is not retroactive, and what already exists cannot be changed, but adapting to the environment and regulating growth in saturated areas is necessary.

Municipalities will have to develop municipal ordinances that will promote specific restrictions or propose modifications to their urban planning.

Analyzing the details of the decree

The Andalusian Regional Government argues the need to establish limitations on the maximum number of tourist housing units per building, sector, scope, periods, area, or zone for “imperative reasons of general interest.” New requirements are introduced compared to decree 28/216, dated February 2, related to the provision of the tourist accommodation service, “in accordance with European and national regulations that regulate the principles of free access to the market.”

Hoteliers on the Costa del Sol, who account for 50% of tourist accommodations in Andalusia, would have liked the decree to be “more ambitious,” calling it “possibilistic.” Although they recognize that other regional regulations have been more profound, they also point out that these have been invalidated by judges.

The hotel association on the Costa del Sol mentions that the current decree significantly improves the previous one but also highlights that the phenomenon of tourist accommodations is here to stay. The exponential growth of these also poses challenges related to the lack of housing for employees of tourist establishments and the loss of authenticity in the central areas of cities.

The lack of inspectors from the Andalusian Regional Government to sanction tourist accommodations that do not comply with regulations is a fundamental complaint. In an autonomous community, a national leader in this type of accommodation, it is celebrated how the decree defines the figure of the professional manager. The need for a noise detector, an objective tool for users who do not respect coexistence, is welcomed in the sector. The Andalusian Tourist Housing Association also emphasizes the importance of a sustainable model and underscores that the decree does not seek to prohibit but to organize the territory, leaving the responsibility to the municipalities.

The Andalusian Regional Government could have been more decisive in the decree, although the situation in Malaga differs from other provinces. It is necessary to consider the situation of each municipality, and it has passed very lightly for the time it took to regulate it.

The president of the Community Administrators regrets that in legislative terms, nothing extraordinary has been done, although the decree does not address the overcrowding of tourist accommodations, gentrification, and price increases, it does establish legal instruments for municipalities to regulate it.

There are also doubts about the capacity of the inspection service of the Andalusian Regional Government since there is not enough personnel, which leaves the image of Andalusian tourism in the hands of the good faith of the owners to comply with obligations, which puts the decree itself in a bad light, and in the hands of the municipalities for it to serve a purpose.”