Junta gives three-month deadline for owners to register holiday properties

2016-02-07 08:00:00

The Andalusian government has given owners of tourist accommodation three months to officially register their properties. This week the Junta approved its new decree which aims to close the existing loophole regarding apartments, houses and rooms which are rented to tourists.
The three month period will begin once the decree has been published in the Official Bulletin of the Junta de Andalucía (BOJA). The authority believes that by ensuring that all such properties are registered, it will prevent fraud and unfair competition.
To make their properties legal, the owners have to register them with the Registro de Turismo de Andalucía and will then have one year to comply with the requirements laid down by the new regulations.
The Junta calculates that there are about 80,000 unregistered properties in the region at present, offering 400,000 beds. The Andalusian Head of Tourism, Javier Fernández, said he was confident that the register will be “operative” by May and that all properties will be registered by the summer. Anyone who fails to comply will face fines of up to 150,000 euros.
Javier Fernández said the new rule has “maximum support” from the sector but he did not want to discuss criticism from the Fevitur federation which has called for changes in the status of the properties affected.
The text classifies tourist accommodation as properties located on residential land which habitually offer accommodation for tourism purposes in exchange for payment, through travel agents, intermediary companies or organisers, using methods which involve reservation.
The decree differentiates between complete properties, which are rented in their entirety and can sleep no more than 15 people, and properties in which the resident owner rents rooms, which must have capacity for no more than six people.
Exceptions
The new regulations do not apply to properties for which no money changes hands; rental contracts for more than two consecutive months for the same tenant; and properties in rural areas (the last two cases are already subject to their own regulations).
Also excluded are complexes of three or more properties, all owned by the same person, located within the same building or group of buildings, whether or not these are adjoining. These will now be covered by another decree, Decreto 194/2010, for tourist apartments, which has been modified for this purpose. This section implies that if two or more properties belong to the same owner and are more than one kilometre apart they are not included in the decree, something which has been rejected by the Spanish Federation of Tourist Apartments and Houses (Fevitur).
The new decree was drawn up at the request of owners who were left unregulated by the modification in 2013 of the Law of Urban Rentals (LAU).
Now the Junta will ensure that tourist accommodation matches the standards of quality and comfort laid down for other types of accommodation, such as hotels. Properties must have an occupancy licence and fulfil certain specifications , including external ventilation, air conditioning, suitable furniture, household linen, kitchen equipment and first aid kit.source surinenglish