The Spanish Government intends to conclude by the end of the year a regulation for short-term rentals and tighten the rules for tourist accommodation, to combat fraud and increase access to housing, the executive announced.
The proposed regulation for tourist and short-term rentals was approved by the Council of Ministers and will be put out for public consultation, with the aim of having a document finalized and in force by the end of the year, said the Minister of Housing, Isabel Rodríguez.
According to the minister, Spain is following a European regulation and hopes to be the first country in the European Union (EU) to have this mechanism in force.
Specifically, and according to Isabel Rodríguez at a press conference in Madrid, short-term rental contracts now have to mention the reason that justifies them, so as not to be considered a fraud and for the houses to be sold on real estate platforms.
All apartments for short-term or tourist rentals will also have to be registered in advance on a platform, providing various information and cross-referencing with other data – such as prohibitions on condominiums for this type of use.
With this registration, apartments and houses obtain a type of “registration” number, valid for one year, which will be essential for their marketing on real estate and tourist portals.
With this regulation, the Spanish Government intends to combat fraud in the rental market and increase the number of houses available for permanent housing, said the minister.
The Spanish Council of Ministers also approved a reinforcement of 200 million euros for a program to support young rentals that has already been operating for two years.
Housing is an area protected, in Spain, by the autonomous regions, whose governments the minister appealed to put these measures into practice, speed up support distribution processes and reinforce aid with their own funds.
Isabel Rodríguez recalled, on the other hand, that the governments of the current prime minister, the socialist Pedro Sánchez, defined access to housing as a priority and are committed to increasing the number of popular housing units, to increase supply and thus try to lower prices.
According to the minister, the governments led by Sánchez have already released more than 20,400 million euros for public housing policies.
Access to housing, due to high prices, is one of the biggest concerns of Spaniards, according to several studies, and has been a driver of demonstrations and protests in the country, mainly in large cities and tourist areas.
One of the biggest demonstrations in defense of new housing policies took place last Sunday, in Madrid, with a mobilization of 22 thousand people, according to the authorities, and 150 thousand, according to the organizers.
