‘Panic’ over Palma holiday apartment ban
A holiday rental website is attempting to reassure worried holidaymakers that they won’t arrive in Majorca with nowhere to stay after a local mayor announced a sudden ban on short-term rental accommodation this summer.
The Mayor of Palma plans to block apartment owners from offering holiday lets from as early as June in an attempt to tackle the growing shortage of accommodation for locals and rising rents. In 2016, locals daubed graffiti in the city’s old town, including slogans such as ‘Tourist go home. Refugees welcome’ and ‘Tourist you are the terrorist’.
Under his proposed law, the Mayor will fine apartment owners up to €40,000 if they attempt to honour bookings they have already taken and accept guests from June.
However, Malaga-based Spain-Holiday.com claims the Mayor has no jurisdiction over holiday rentals and his proposed law would not be legally binding. It would have to be approved by the regional government of the Balearics, which covers Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera, according to the company.
A spokeswoman for the company said it was telling worried customers who had been in touch that ‘they have nothing to worry about’. "They will not turn up in Majorca to find their holiday rental booking has been cancelled."
Holiday apartments are currently unregulated in the Balearics, unlike villas which require a tourist licence. The islands’ tourism department is in the process of drafting new regulations to include tourist apartments, but these are not due to come into effect before 2018 at the earliest.
"Previously, the holiday rental industry in Spain has been unregulated and bringing in a uniform set of rules and regulations is a good thing for holidaymakers, property owners and locals alike," said Jannich Petersen, chief operating officer of Spain-Holiday.com.
"Spain-Holiday.com has a very hands-on approach guiding our holiday rental owners through the registration process to obtain their Tourist Licence according to the requirements set out by each regional government. We will continue to do so in the Balearic Islands, working towards the new Tourism regulations due to be imposed in 2018."
However, the Town Hall of Palma has reiterated that it has every intention to carry out the ban on holiday apartment lets this summer ahead of any new island-wide new regulations and fine apartment owners €40,000 if they flout it.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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