Sustainable Tourism Law

COMPETITION LAW VERSUS SPATIAL PLANNING 311 a possible confrontation between the principles that are derived from the Services Directive. Nevertheless, it is important to note that this same directive specifically mentions its own exclusion from matters related to spatial and city planning. In its ninth recital it notes that the directive shall only apply to conditions that affect access to an activity related to services or their practice. Thus, it does not apply to conditions that involve road traffic, regulations concerning spatial planning, city planning, rural land-use planning, building regulations or administrative sanctions stemming from noncompliance with such regulations, which do not specifically regulate or affect service activities but which must be respected by service providers in the practice of their business activity, as well as individuals in their private capacity. As indicated in the previously cited STSJ of Catalonia 357/2014 of 12 June, the Services Directive is applicable to conditions related to the establishment of a service activity and/or its practice, the objective of which is to eliminate obstacles that hinder the freedom of establishment of service providers in member states and the free movement of services among member states (recital [5]) – this freedom specifically implicates the principle of equal treatment, which not only prohibits any form of discrimination based on member-state nationality, but also any form of indirect discrimination based on other criteria that could lead to the same result (recital [65]). This means that the Services Directive affects the regulation of the requirements for establishing or practicing a tourism activity. However, regulating these requirements is one thing, the zoning, which can be carried out via spatial or city planning in order to establish land-use intensity in a certain area to commercialize the touristic use of dwellings, is something different. In this case, the main goal is to reconcile touristic use with residential use, as well as other commercial uses available to residents, without encroaching on the establishment or the practice of the activity and without making a requirement that could directly or indirectly discriminate against nationals from other European Union member states, to the extent that the regulations on land-use planning are applicable to any person without regard to nationality or the state of the establishment. Furthermore, despite the ninth recital of the Services Directive (which excludes spatial planning from its scope of application), it should be noted that in article 15, planning instruments can indeed establish spatial conditions that entail limiting access to commercialization, i.e., the activity. In this case, when applying this provision, public powers must provide encouragement and a foundation so that these spatial conditions that are imposed are adjusted to the