Earlier this week, the Ministry of Tourism and Employment of the Canary Islands Government extended the deadline for submitting objections to the new draft Law on Sustainable Regulation of Tourist Use of Housing, at the request of the Canarian Federation of Municipalities (FECAM), who asked for more time to study it.
Now, one of the first to publicly express their opinion has been Mogán, the second-largest tourist destination in Gran Canaria and the sixth in the Canary Islands in terms of tourist overnight stays. And their assessments are not favourable; in fact, they have urged the regional government to suspend the draft.
The Mogán Council has expressed the same opinions as the Canarian Association of Vacation Rentals (ASCAV), albeit in different tones. Whereas ASCAV used the term "extermination law for holiday rentals," the Mogan council says that the regulation "will prevent the establishment of new holiday rentals and will eradicate almost all existing ones."
The administration, led by Onalia Bueno, believes that the urban planning and administrative requirements that municipalities would have to meet, as well as the technical demands on property owners, are "practically impossible to fulfill." They also point out that Mogán has more than 10% of holiday rental housing (the maximum limit set by the draft law), meaning many would have to be "indiscriminately disabled."
While they emphasise their agreement on the need to organise and regulate holiday rentals in the archipelago, they stress that it is a "mistake to demonise them."
The Mogán council rejects the responsibility of being the only ones able to guarantee the "survival of holiday rentals knowing that it is impossible to comply with everything imposed on them." They believe that the modification of planning instruments required by the draft law translates into additional administrative burdens that municipalities cannot bear.
Furthermore, Mogán opposes the supervisory role assigned to local administrations, holding them responsible for verifying whether existing holiday rentals comply with the classified activity regime, a procedure they believe should be the responsibility of the island councils (Cabildos).
Because of this, they have demanded the suspension of the draft and the creation of a working group involving all municipalities to achieve a model that allows the regulation of holiday rentals. In contrast, they propose regulations that take into account the situation of each municipality and impose "concise and clear requirements."
