Live News From Spain As It Happens

Steve Gould said:
Thursday, April 18, 2013 @ 8:04 PM

I've seen a similar story on various websites but I can't find any official government source for it. Any idea where it came from or is it a candidate for hoax-slayer?

lee halliday said:
Saturday, April 20, 2013 @ 7:04 AM

This would be a bold move. Can't see it happening but then again you could have said the same about the Valencia land grab.

A lot of people will need an income to keep their properties going. This would lead to a lot of properties going on the market at once pushing down property valuations even further.

The mess Spain is in I don't think you can take anything for granted and knee jerk reactions are inevitable over the next 10 yrs.

Peter Faulkner said:
Saturday, April 20, 2013 @ 7:17 AM

I would have thought that this would be counter productive. Firstly people who are renting a property for their holiday will be eating and drinking goods purchased in shops , bars and restaurants. If they can't rent, then these establishments will be loosing revenue. secondly, many of the people who rent their holiday accommodation will not suddenly book into a hotel, they will rent accommodation in another country instead.

Ourkidd said:
Saturday, April 20, 2013 @ 7:54 AM

If this is the case. Then the Spanish government should stop the tax that assumes you let out your property. I don,t think they will.

Dona Margaret said:
Saturday, April 20, 2013 @ 8:37 AM

The Canary Islands already have strict tourist regulations and many flat owners have already received huge fines. In a nutshell, tourist complexes can only be let out via a designated agent and residential properties cannot be let out over the internet etc for short term lets. The only form ôf letting allowed is for at least three months with a legal contract.

Karen said:
Saturday, April 20, 2013 @ 8:52 AM

If this is true it would have a huge impact on tourism. Families mainly rent for the self catering option and space. There are not many hotels competitively priced to accommodate that which will cause them to go elsewhere. Simple. They will damage themselves from this and a tax perspective. Ridiculous!

Rob said:
Saturday, April 20, 2013 @ 9:03 AM

The problem is that for people like me I prefer an apartment (or condo in American slang) over a hotel room, even if the cost is the same.

The only option would be to do what one place in Orlando did, tht was a management company and front desk but all the units are privately owned

Richard said:
Saturday, April 20, 2013 @ 9:12 AM

This would not surprise me. I understand it has already received Royal assent. The Spanish national and regional governments have a history of "killing the goose that lays the golden egg"; bulldozing legal houses, land grab, the recent need to declare your worldwide assets with the veiled threat of new taxes. Some of it no doubt driven by corrupt officials.
The bottom line is that Spanish politicians have no idea how foreign tourists think (they want a cheap holiday) or what drove a sucessful economy for many years. Result: house prices crash, tourists go to other countries, locals lose valuable income, expats leave in droves, ecomomy goes further downhill. When will they ever learn?

Colin said:
Saturday, April 20, 2013 @ 10:04 AM

Aren't the people who rent accommodation tourists as well. I honestly thought that the Government would have a little more sense than eliminate self catering holidays. Are they going to close all B&B's and camp sites as well. The fact is the people that go self catering or rent properties would not book into hotels they would just go elsewhere. Crazy Politicians who are out of touch with reality.

philip said:
Saturday, April 20, 2013 @ 10:41 AM

Will this"new law" only affect to you letting your property to strangers? so if out of the "goodness of your heart" (tongue in cheek) you allow friends and family from the UK stay at your property "gratis" then you are not letting it out. I can see that I am going have a much larger group of friends if this comes into affect. I feel sorry for the Spanish people who rent out a lot of the apartments, because they have difficulty paying for hotels.

pere6223 said:
Saturday, April 20, 2013 @ 11:21 AM

It won't happen. Here's why not. Prohibition of private renting would cause further fall in property prices. This would cause banks having to write down their assets further and putting several of Spain's major banks back into capital deficiency. That would require further loans from ECB and losses to bank shareholders. Significant numbers would be involved.

So I would not worry any further about this.

sandycj said:
Saturday, April 20, 2013 @ 12:01 PM

I have always rented from a private owner and if this becomes law I will now be visiting Spain again

sandycj said:
Saturday, April 20, 2013 @ 12:02 PM

I have always rented from a private owner and if this becomes law I will NOT be visiting Spain again

Paul Miller said:
Saturday, April 20, 2013 @ 12:38 PM

Surely moving emphasis back to the 'traditional tourist industry' is impossible; as nowadays every hotel wants to offer all inclusive holidays, to prevent the tourists leaving the hotel.
Private lettings allows the tourist freedom to shop as a local, eat out as local, and generally spread wealth in a wider area than direct to fat cat hoteliers who already use semi-slave labour to allow their 'cheapest holiday ever' claims..
Rant over.....

Kernaghan said:
Saturday, April 20, 2013 @ 1:13 PM

What a way to escalate the economy into a further crisis, we were just looking at purchasing a town house in Mojacar to live in offseason months.
As already been pointed out they have enforced taxes on owners even though their properties are not rented, Mojacar was developed to stop the village dying and now they want to bite the hand that's feeding them, not very smart and what about the plan to encourage foreigners to purchase properties over 160,000€ in return for residents status already been slashed to only guarantee of 2 years now, looks like its off to Croatia for my place in the sun, Australia has recipriot agreement with them so much easier now their in the EU

Lynn said:
Saturday, April 20, 2013 @ 1:14 PM

Just another idiotic government decree. They just don't get it at all. In a lot of area, there are not enough hotels. Spain needs to encourage business not destroy it. Another nail in the coffin in what's left of the Spanish economy. Completely and utterly BONKERS!!!!!

tracyrimmer said:
Saturday, April 20, 2013 @ 1:41 PM

I am in this industry, and this was brought to our attention back in 2006 when the Telegraph newspaper published an article called "Counting the costas"
At that time we stopped all holiday lets and continued with long term letting only, as did not want either our company or our landlords falling foul of the law. If you want to contact companies like holiday lettings website that let owners advertise their own property themselves, you ask the question they will actually have to tell you that you can be fined if you property was not constructed as "apartmentos vacaciones" if you decide to let the property and get caught. However if you let your property for long let, you are not depriving the hotel or holiday industry of much needed income, so this is allowed. I still have the article if anyone wants to read it. I know that the Canary Islands have much higher fines and have already found this working for them, so it is not unusual for them to put this to the whole of Spain.

Cindy said:
Saturday, April 20, 2013 @ 1:46 PM

This is absurd! People all around the world let out their homes via the Internet. Just check out vrbo.com or Homeaway. For a country who wants to move forward, this is a backward move. Spain--get with the real world. This is the future!

peter said:
Saturday, April 20, 2013 @ 2:16 PM

its as if spanish polititians, whom we must assume went to school/college/uni and there were no courses available in economics, social science and human geography.
they are as thick as sort planks. That must go for the king as well for him to even consider rubber stamping it.

philip said:
Saturday, April 20, 2013 @ 2:29 PM

Will this"new law" only affect to you letting your property to strangers? so if out of the "goodness of your heart" (tongue in cheek) you allow friends and family from the UK stay at your property "gratis" then you are not letting it out. I can see that I am going have a much larger group of friends if this comes into affect. I feel sorry for the Spanish people who rent out a lot of the apartments, because they have difficulty paying for hotels.

John W. Doyle said:
Saturday, April 20, 2013 @ 4:16 PM

In 10 years of renting to holiday makers I do not know one of those families who would use a hotel. Their business will go to other countries. A lot of Families do not want hotels as you have more freedom and privacy with private lets plus the costs are significantly less. Hotels are generally short term one hit rapists and do not expect to see you back again so they will gouge you as much as possible on your first visit. I have travelled all my life for work and pleasure and unless I am disparate I do not use hotels.
Bring in this law... I with 100000 others will hand our keys to bank. Spain will sink into oblivion. Costa del sol will just be a mess...

Graham said:
Saturday, April 20, 2013 @ 5:10 PM

Is this an April fool

Graham said:
Saturday, April 20, 2013 @ 5:30 PM

If true it may well be another nail in the coffin for Spain as there are many other countries just gagging for foreigners to come and buy property, Turkey for example is even cheaper than Spain (although I am not sure of their renting out policies)

I think there are two drivers to new law, one is jobs and the other is populist xenophobia. With huge unemployment especially among the young there is voter pressure to find jobs for them and obviously hotels can help provide that, however, that assumes that private apartment and villa renters will switch to hotels. Of course they will not.

The other part is a dislike of foreigners, not tourists, but those that buy property to rent out or just a holiday homes and create ethnic enclaves without any attempt to integrate into Spanish life. This is also a voter issue as it is in almost all EU countries, the immigration issue almost surpasses all others.

One urbanization I know off where there are thousands of private Villas with many rent outs are fed up with local council indifference to their problems that they plan to form their own political party. Now the mayor is taking them more seriously. Perhaps foreign apartment and villa owners should band together and form a national political party so that they are more part of formulation of the laws and able to oppose the ones they don't like.

Graham said:
Saturday, April 20, 2013 @ 5:32 PM

Note: There are two Graham's posting, just coincidence.

John W. Doyle said:
Sunday, April 21, 2013 @ 1:57 AM

@Graham...
Totally agree...
I really like the political party approach...
This is not as far fetched as one thinks..
This has to be taken serious...

scousemick said:
Sunday, April 21, 2013 @ 12:31 PM

It will be interesting to see what happens to places like Club La Costa which rents out holiday homes. Wil they be exempt from this Law. Also what wil happen to La Rents tax on properties if you can't rent your property. All very interesting!!!

Lynn said:
Monday, April 22, 2013 @ 12:11 AM

When we bought our place 11years ago, the government didn't mind taking our purchase taxes etc and taking the yearly non-resident taxes that includes the tax for renting out your property even if you don't. As someone else has said most people who choose a self catering holiday, don't want to stay in hotels, many of which are second rate, there are many lovely private properties which knock hotels into a cocked hat. These people still use the Bars, restaurants and supermarkets. There ware many who simply can't afford not to rent to holiday makers, this helps pay for their places. More properties will come onto the already flooded property market, driving prices down even more. Typical of most governments who really haven't a clue. I wonder if this could be challenged in the EU courts.

Richard said:
Monday, April 22, 2013 @ 11:28 AM

This is currently the law in the Balearic Islands and the Canaries. It will shift to all of Spain and no surprises there. Of course it is madness but that is Spain. Ironically a lot of Spanish families spend their summers 5 kms down the road from their main homes on the coast every year. This will prevent this happening if implemented.

AlanS said:
Monday, April 22, 2013 @ 12:00 PM

The main force driving this seems to be the Spanish 'All Inclusive' hotel industry. They have seen theor market share and their margins falling steadily over the past decade or so, but they remain a very powerful and influential lobby at both a national and local government level. The more active enforcement of a ruling which is already technically in place in areas such as the Canaries will seriously damage groups such as local shops, bars, taxis etc, not to mention property owners who rely on short term rental for survival, but these are disparate lobby groups with small voices and shallow pockets when it comes to the decision-making in Spain. We already have residential owners 'dobbing in' neighbours who rent out to tourists, and fines being imposed (Lanzarote, Fuerteventura) without the owners necessarily being aware - crazy, but it does happen. You'd like to think common sense will prevail, but I'd not hold my breath. We've been actively looking to buy in the Canaries, but have just put that on hold and may look elsewhere. Even though we were not looking to rent out our property, this could have a major impact on prices over the next couple of years

Charlie said:
Monday, April 22, 2013 @ 1:00 PM

Fantastic point by "Ourkidd"on 20 April 2013 @ 07:54
Has it been thought through???

AlanS said:
Monday, April 22, 2013 @ 1:12 PM

The main force driving this seems to be the Spanish 'All Inclusive' hotel industry. They have seen theor market share and their margins falling steadily over the past decade or so, but they remain a very powerful and influential lobby at both a national and local government level. The more active enforcement of a ruling which is already technically in place in areas such as the Canaries will seriously damage groups such as local shops, bars, taxis etc, not to mention property owners who rely on short term rental for survival, but these are disparate lobby groups with small voices and shallow pockets when it comes to the decision-making in Spain. We already have residential owners 'dobbing in' neighbours who rent out to tourists, and fines being imposed (Lanzarote, Fuerteventura) without the owners necessarily being aware - crazy, but it does happen. You'd like to think common sense will prevail, but I'd not hold my breath. We've been actively looking to buy in the Canaries, but have just put that on hold and may look elsewhere. Even though we were not looking to rent out our property, this could have a major impact on prices over the next couple of years

Judith Basham said:
Monday, April 22, 2013 @ 5:19 PM

If the Spanish Government was too idle to cotton on to what the banks and land developers did 4 yrs ago, I don't think they have enough manpower to launch such a comprehensive search on the internet, word of mouth, text message, etc to stop private letting of villas or flats. Some bright spark has an idea, but lacks the wit to make it work the way the law is written. What are they going to do, infiltrate AirBnB or Trip Adviser?

George Fee said:
Monday, April 22, 2013 @ 7:46 PM

The Canary Islands-according to Blevins Franks-page 135 Edition 9, states that in a Touristic Complex only the Sole Agency can rent out the apartments and if there is no Sole Agency (due to less than 50% apartments with a Sole agency) then NO ONE on that site is allowed to rent. In contrast, individuals renting out their own property have no restrictions provided the terms are agreed with the tenant.

Mike White said:
Tuesday, April 23, 2013 @ 5:48 PM

Already planning to sell my apartment on the strength of this rumour. The Spanish Government have proven themselves to be thieves and rogues over many years and they are also definitely stupid enough to bring this law in. I only hope that an investigative journalist shows that some members of said Government have interests in the hotel industry. Hopefully then this will bite them on the bum.

notasuprise said:
Thursday, April 25, 2013 @ 9:46 AM

who will ever trust Spain again regarding investment in property. tough enough now to sell ,not impossible to see a future in Spain where Brits have no option but to just give up there property to the Spanish government. rising taxes on Brit owners is happening already ,fines and debt may be linked to the property as some already are. i have personally lost tens of thousands having no option but to sign over because of an unjust legal system in which very few if any! can receive a fair outcome. DON'T TRUST THEM!

jalanie said:
Sunday, April 28, 2013 @ 7:19 PM

We were about to purchase a property in Lanzarote which we intended letting only during July and August. We can manage without the letting income however we pulled out because we felt that if the letting laws were enforced it would greatly devalue the property. We just dont feel safe.

Pete201 said:
Tuesday, April 30, 2013 @ 7:19 AM

If the response is typical for Jalanie then there may be to panic sales of their properties.
As with Jalnie it also reduce the attractiveness of buying a property in Spain.

The result - further depression in the price of properties (particularly costal) properties. The Spain banks would then have to write down the property asset values on their books and strengthen their balance sheets with new capital issues and further temporary borrowing from the ECB. The end result of the measure is

a) reductions in property values
b) banks will have to write down assets in their books
c) fall in confidence in some Spanish banks...
d) more cash from ECB to prop up banks
e) increase in Spains borrowing costs
f) further pressure on the Euro as a concept
etc etc

Madness

Pete201 said:
Tuesday, April 30, 2013 @ 7:20 AM

If the response is typical for Jalanie then there may be to panic sales of their properties.
As with Jalnie it also reduce the attractiveness of buying a property in Spain.

The result - further depression in the price of properties (particularly costal) properties. The Spain banks would then have to write down the property asset values on their books and strengthen their balance sheets with new capital issues and further temporary borrowing from the ECB. The end result of the measure is

a) reductions in property values
b) banks will have to write down assets in their books
c) fall in confidence in some Spanish banks...
d) more cash from ECB to prop up banks
e) increase in Spains borrowing costs
f) further pressure on the Euro as a concept
etc etc

Madness

Jane said:
Tuesday, May 7, 2013 @ 8:41 PM

I saw the headline only yesterday. I was googling how to make your Spanish holiday home a legal let! We were about to buy this week - had the compraventa in my inbox. It was a gorgeous house in the Alpujarras that had been empty for two yrs and has taken us three trips to find. We had borrowed to pay for it, so we would have to rent it out part of the year as a holiday home to cover some of the costs. We now have no choice but to pull out of the sale till this is resolved and find out what our regional government is going to do. So stressful and feel bad for the current owner, a British woman who has come back to the UK and is desperate to sell.

Leo Leon said:
Friday, May 10, 2013 @ 10:25 PM

This man Geoffrey Bloom said it all for me, watch it to the end, as he has a come back line.

I don't think that it is allowed to put HTML links in here, so you will have to type it out yourself in your browser.
You will need to type in ' http ' before the colon and two forward stripes.

://sorisomail.com/email/238743/o-politico-que-representa-realmente-a-populacao.

Then you will need to type in ' html' after the last word and full stop.
It is in English and well worth a watch. He hits the nail right on the head.
Cheers
Leo