Sustainable Tourism Law

PRIVATE HOLIDAY RENTALS IN SPANISH LAW 195 Government a statement of compliance with the applicable requirements to undertake this activity. In turn, the second rule establishes a principle of contractual freedom to transfer the holiday apartment/home, stating that it may be done in any of the methods allowed by the Law. As can be seen, the regulation is scarce and provides complete freedom in terms of the arrangement in question. Likewise, the Tourism Decree only contains seven articles about the arrangement in question, establishing a very general and fairly permissive framework, given the few requirements it establishes to allow holiday leases. The regulation can be summarised as follows: a) Requirements (art. 67): The property assignment must be for the entire property (not by room) and for a maximum of 31 days. The property must have an occupancy certificate and may only be occupied up to the number of places indicated in the certificate. The property must be adequately furnished and the operator ensures assistance and maintenance thereof. Users and neighbours must be provided with a telephone number to deal with possible incidents. The use of a property for tourist goals is not possible if this is prohibited in the zoning of approved uses for the sector, considering its locations, or if it is prohibited by the statutes of the owners’ association (registered in the Land Registry) in buildings subject to horizontal property law. These are the only legal limitations to establishing properties for tourist use, although the Decree does not specify which ‘sector’ it refers to. b) Procedure (art. 68): Holiday properties need to notify the corresponding council prior to starting their business. This notification provides applicants with a property registration number (the advance notice for the start of business number). This number must be displayed in a visible spot in the property. Subsequently, holiday properties are registered by the council in the Tourism Registry of Catalonia. B) This general regulation set out in Decree 159/2012 may be developed more specifically by councils in municipal by-laws. In the exemplary case of Barcelona, a Special Urban Plan for tourist accommodation and holiday properties was passed on 27.01.2017 that established notable containment measures for the creation of new holiday properties. The Plan divides the city into four large