In response to the growing backlash against mass tourism, Spain’s Valencia region in the south has joined a growing list of governments that are cracking down on holiday rentals similar to Airbnb.
The regional government overseeing beach hotspots such as Benidorm, Alicante and others is trying to eradicate black-market rentals. It has threatened to fine landlords who break the rules up to €600,000.
Nuria Montos, Valencia ‘s tourism chief, said that holiday apartments played an important part in the region’s economy, but “we wanted to regulate them and bring order so they didn’t grow uncontrolledly”.
Starting point of a package that will be announced on Thursday is the elimination of black market rentals. Montes stated that “we cannot tolerate any form of underground economy within the accommodation sector.”
Airbnb-style flats are being blamed in destinations throughout southern Europe, from Venice to Lisbon, for hosting unruly guests. This has led to the “touristification’ of public areas and a rise in property prices.
Valencia has decided to take a more moderate approach than Barcelona which is planning to shut down all its 10,000 Airbnb style apartments, including those that are already licensed with the authorities by 2028.
According to Montes, in the Valencia region (which includes the Costa Blanca coast from Denia up to Torrevieja), the number of holiday apartments has risen from 40,000 to 106,000 since 2015.
She estimated that there could be as many as 50,000 unregistered apartments on the black market, and this includes those listed online in classifieds sites where fraud is rampant.
“They are beyond any kind of control.” They don’t pay any taxes. Montes stated that they did not know if the owners were fulfilling their obligations towards their employees.
“But safety is the most important thing.” They do not comply with their obligation to inform the authorities of the clients’ identities. We don’t even know if the staff follow rules regarding fires, emergency situations, or evacuation plans.
Valencia plans will be voted by the regional parliament on September. A sliding scale of fines can reach €600,000.00 per apartment.
Even licensed apartments may be considered illegal by the end of this calendar year if their owners do not provide a 20-digit official code that is used to identify all property in Spain.
The licenses must also be renewed every 5 years. They will be denied, if the homeowners association changed their rules to prohibit holiday apartments within a building.
Valencia has 11 holiday apartment inspectors, but plans to increase enforcement by involving municipal governments.
Brussels officials, in an effort to harmonize a patchwork national laws throughout the EU, adopted a regulation that requires short-term rental firms to share their data with authorities this April.
Airbnb and other platforms will be required to provide regular updates about landlords’ activities to assist the government in cracking down on illegal listings.
Montes stated that Valencia was determined not to allow any single room rentals on platforms like Airbnb or Vrbo. She does not, however, want to ban all holiday apartments in the style of Barcelona. The regional government will instead encourage local leaders to decide on what’s best for their region.
She said that local councils could set limits on, for instance, the maximum number for tourist use of dwellings per building or per neighborhood. These limits would have to be based upon clear and objective criteria. “It can’t be arbitrarily.”
She noted that while tourist apartments made up 1.8 percent of all housing in Valencia, vacant properties made 14 percent of the total.
Montes stated that holiday rentals and permanent residents have coexisted for many years “in an incredibly peaceful manner”. She said that platforms like Airbnb have led to a “hotelisation” in buildings, and increased the number of conflicts with residents of owner-occupied communities.
Montes, however, argued that the demonisation and stigmatisation of holiday homes in Spain was too extreme.
She said that “tourist flats have been identified as being the cause of all problems,” referring to housing shortages and increasing rents. “I think this is a terrible injustice.”
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