spain

Valencia Wants to Stop Tourists from Taking Best Views

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A group of Valencia residents now support a bill that aims to ban tourists from being booked into rooms that have the best views of the city.
Valencia city hall is currently mulling over a new regulation that would restrict private rentals to the ground and second floors of apartment buildings. If passed, the law would basically ban all private apartment rentals offering a view of the historic buildings and coastline of the city. Also, it would prohibit tourist rentals from the historic center of the city and allow regulation of holiday rentals on zone-by-zone basis, The Local Spain reported.

There have been complaints by locals that the current tourism boom in Valencia has priced out locals from the most desirable neighborhoods of the city.

In a statement, Sandra Gomez, Valencia deputy mayor, said that the new law empowers councils to regain control of what buildings may be used for.

Valencia joins a host of other European cities waging a war against holiday rental sites such as Airbnb. Just last year, Barcelona threatened to bar all Airbnbs from the city because of properties operating without a license. Last month, Paris city filed a case against Airbnb and other illegal listings. A court hearing that is set for 12th of June, could affect up to 85% of listings on the website.

Madrid Proposes Stricter Home Sharing Rules

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Madrid is seeking to pass a law that would in effect ban up to 95% of homeshare and Airbnb listings from the city’s historic center.

The new regulations, which were announced by Sustainable Urban Planning secretary Jose Manuel Calvo on May 9, impose stricter rules on home rentals, more so in the historic center of Madrid.

Residential use
According to The Local Spain, the move aims to preserve residential use of properties, which will in effect end permanent use of such buildings and instead replace it with short-term use by tourists. This would stop housing units from being turned into exclusive accommodation for tourists.

City officials are hopeful that the new regulations would bar landlords from turning whole buildings into rental units, unless where they hold a hotel license.

According to the new rules, it will be illegal to rent apartments to tourist for over 90 days in a calendar year. As for those being rented out to vacationers, they will need to have a different entrance from permanent dwellers. In the city’s historic center, only a few ground floor buildings (roughly 6%) would be allowed to be rented out to tourists. The central zone includes Chueca, Sol, Malasaña, Lavapiés and La Latina neighborhoods.

As the new plan awaits approval by the government, Madrid has temporarily banned issuing tourist licenses for a year.

Madrid is not the only city fighting homeshares. Valencia is in the process of introducing new regulations that aim to bar Airbnbs from taking the best views of the city, while Palma, Mallorca’s capital, outlawed all unlicensed homeshare listings. It takes effect this July.