Sustainable Tourism Law

304 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM LAW Along with the territorial dimension of this new form of tourism accommodation, there is another dimension that is equally important and affects, on the one hand, new intermediary channels – which remain nebulous and have little to no regulation – through which collaborative accommodations are advertised (i.e., platforms or marketplaces such as Airbnb and Homeaway), and on the other hand, the new role of accommodation service providers, peers and professional service providers, as well as the property rights, freedom of enterprise and right to open competition of these providers. These dimensions for economic activities and the rights and freedoms of citizens have an obvious impact on market unity. Regulatory changes regarding the renting of dwellings for tourism purposes – namely those made in Spanish Law 29/1994 of November 24 on urban leasing (henceforth, LAU) and put into effect under Law 4/2013 of June 4 on measures to relax and stimulate the residential rental market (henceforth, Law 4/2013) – led some of Spain’s autonomous communities that have tourism as a staple of their industry to adjust the legal framework governing the vacation rental of residences. This was the case in Aragón (2015), the Canary Islands (2015), Catalonia (2012), the Community of Madrid (2014) and Andalusia (2016), among others. Some places (Barcelona, Madrid and the Balearic Islands, especially Ibiza) have seen such incredible growth in the number of vacation rentals since the summer of 2016 that it has caused social unrest and a feeling of tourismoversaturation due to the indiscriminate and completely disproportionate use of residences for vacation rentals. Concretely, tourism rentals in apartment buildings have grown exponentially, among individuals (the service provider rents his/her property occasionally; peers) but especially among professionals (the service provider regularly exploits the residence; professional service providers). And this is frequently done outside of regulatory or legal channels, which occasionally do not even exist. Fitting the regulation of marketed vacation rentals, especially those that are located in apartment buildings, into the Spanish legal system and accounting for their impact on the urban environment is a challenge that administrative law must currently contend with, in addition to dealing with the sharing economy as a whole. This new regulation cannot ignore the large number and diversity of problems related to vacation rentals: including but not limited to, safeguarding the right to a residence free from nuisances, urban planning, spatial planning, a suitable environment and the right to decent housing, as well as property rights, the right to freedom of enterprise and market unity. The new model of regulatory