Hoteliers propose more control over tourist rentals and they respond: "Let everyone tidy their own house"

PalmThe tourist rental employers' association Habtur has responded to the proposal by hoteliers in the Balearic Islands to modify the Tourism Law and use the Property Registry to control properties intended for medium-term rentals. The association of tourist homes considers it "surprising" that the hotel sector seeks to decide "once again" how an economic activity that is not theirs should be regulated.

"We thank hoteliers for their concern for our sector, but perhaps it would be more useful if everyone tidied up their own house," Habtur stated in a press release issued this Tuesday. The association assures that it is "the first interested party" in combating illegal offerings and defends "any mechanism that effectively allows those who market accommodations outside the regulations to be prosecuted." However, it rejects that legal tourist homes should be turned "once again into the usual suspect for all the problems in the Balearic Islands".

"Stop legislating a sector at the request of its competitor"

Habtur considers it particularly questionable that it is the hotel employers' associations that propose what administrative requirements the tourist rental sector should comply with. "Perhaps the time has come to stop legislating a sector at the proposal of its competitor," it argues.

The association recalls that legal tourist homes are already identified and registered and are subject to "extensive tourist regulations." According to the employers' association, the administrations have the necessary records to know which homes have the enabling title to carry out the activity. Therefore, it considers that the problem is not the lack of controls over those who comply with the regulations, but the lack of inspection over those who do not comply with them. "What we need is not more controls on those who already comply, but more inspection on those who do not comply," it maintains.

Habtur rejects linking tourist rentals to the housing crisis

The association also rejects the repeated linking of legal tourist rentals with the housing emergency. In its opinion, access to housing in the Balearic Islands responds to "multiple factors", among which it cites demographic growth, the increase in residential demand, the lack of affordable housing, insufficient construction over the years, empty homes, and short and medium-term residential rentals.

It also points out the impact of tourist activity and the need for labor during the season. "Pretending to reduce all this reality to tourist homes is convenient. But repeating a diagnosis many times does not make it correct," it states. In this regard, Habtur calls for the debate on tourist pressure to take into account the people who actually stay overnight on the Islands and not just the number of tourist places.

"Let's stop counting only registered places and start counting people and overnight stays," the association claims. It also proposes analyzing how many people sleep each night in hotels, tourist homes, and other types of accommodation, as well as the labor that each model requires, the housing demand it generates, mobility, and resource consumption. "Because an empty tourist place does not generate pressure. A person does," it concludes.

It calls for "the same yardstick"

Habtur cites as an example the need to consider all data, such as the 2.5% year-on-year decrease in overnight stays in tourist homes in the Balearic Islands during July. The association therefore advocates for a global debate on the accommodation model and tourist pressure, but demands that all sectors be measured "by the same yardstick".

"We relentlessly pursue illegal tourist homes. You will always find us on this", it assures. At the same time, however, it rejects the idea that every new administrative obligation imposed on property owners who comply with the regulations is presented as a solution to the housing crisis.

Habtur demands that any regulatory modification affecting tourist homes be negotiated with their representatives and be based on "objective data, proportionality, and legal certainty", and not on the commercial interests of other accommodation types. The association concludes by questioning whether the restrictions applied to tourist rentals have resolved the residential problem. "If after so many years, so many prohibitions, so many checks, and so many restrictions, the housing problem continues to worsen, perhaps it is time to consider whether we have spent too much time looking at the wrong culprit", it concludes.