Sustainable Tourism Law

COMPETITION LAW VERSUS SPATIAL PLANNING 323 safeguard some overriding reason of public interest as laid out in art. 3.11 of Law 17/2009. Furthermore, the Supreme Court will determine potential contradictions between the provisions of the Decree that could impede renting rooms with that which is stipulated in art. 5.e) of the LAU, which requires the complete cessation of this activity. Along a somewhat different line, the 15 November 2017 ruling of the High Court of Justice of Galicia, which examined Decree 12/2017 of 26 January on regulating touristic apartments, touristic residences and dwellings destined for tourism uses, issued a statement in favour of the contents of the Decree, whose limiting measures (such as restricting the maximum number of residences) were found to comply with the freedom of enterprise and open competition, as they were justified by the need to limit nuisances to residents. In this case, according to the court, the limits imposed were founded on the power of the government to carry out urban planning and ensure coexistence, with regard to a public interest they were framed as protecting the ability of residents to relax. Thus, the ruling declared that both usage planning in the sector and owners’ boards (in apartment buildings) could establish restrictions and bans. Finally, it is worth highlighting the ruling made by the High Court of Justice of Castile and Leon on 5 February 2018, which deals with Decree 3/2017 of 16 February on regulating accommodation establishments in the form of residences for tourism use in the autonomous community of Castile and Leon. This ruling merely nullifies the prohibition on renting out individual rooms and considers the rest of the Decree to be in compliance with the law. The ruling maintains that classifying residences for tourism use as establishments does not imply that they must be destined for third-party or tourism uses (as the dwellings are on residential land) nor that they must have a licence for the activity (although they must have a licence of first occupation and an occupancy certificate). CONCLUSIONS Spatial planning instruments that utilize zoning are able to regulate the place andway inwhich tourismand residential uses unfold froma strictly environmental and urban point of view. That is to say, planning instruments can zone vacation rentals by setting up territorial requirements that limit access to the market. In