Sustainable Tourism Law

446 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM LAW possibility of implementing urban planning instruments with the aim of defending the right to housing; These difficulties of control and planning for house rental tourism are directly caused by the extreme simplicity and lack of clarity of the applicable rules. A clear manifestation of these problems is the absence of an agreement about the nature of the use of the house and, also, the legal treatment of the relations among neighbours, when a touristic rental is being explored, which has led to contradictory Court decisions about the nature of the activity of touristic house rentals under the Alojamento Local ’s regime 35 . CONCLUSIONS • The Global Code of Ethics for Tourism and the Charter for Sustainable Tourism do not expressly mention the Right to housing of the residents, as a legal value to be protected as regards the local communities’ sustainability; • The Right to housing is, however, protected as a Constitutional protected Right, both in International Law and in Constitutions like the Portuguese and the Spanish ones, and a basic condition for the development and wellbeing of the resident populations; 35 On the 15 th September, 2016, Regional Court of Oporto (Proc. n.º 4910/16.5T8PRT-A.P1) has declared: • The house with license for housing purposes can be used for touristic rentals (alojamento local) ; • The accommodation concept is contained in the house concept; • The condominium can’t impose material restrictions to the property right of each tenant over its unit, which are not reflected on the horizontal property incorporation deed or to which the tenant has not agreed; On the 20th September, 2016, Regional Court of Lisbon (12579-16.0T8LSB.L1-8) stated: • The alojamento local is a commercial activity; • If as per the condominium incorporation deed the use of housing is provided for a building unit, no other destination, such as alojamento local , can be given, it doesn’t matter if an administrative Alojamento local license is issued; • The administrative Alojamento local license can’t change the condominium incorporation deed stipulations; Supreme Court of Justice, has issued a decision on the 28th of March 2017, declaring that: • The building units’ rental to tourists, for short periods, is not a commercial act • When a furnished building unit is rented to tourists, the unit is used for housing and not for a commercial activity • If a building unit is, according to the building incorporation deed, intended to be housing, the deed is still respected if alojamento local is explored in the house Regional Court of Oporto, has declared on the 28th March 2017: • The concept of house refers to a place where the tenant has the centre of his life, even if only slightly or temporarily, it has to be connected with his life; • When a building unit is intended for housing, we are always talking about a domicile, home, which is a space of domestic life with the inherent need for peace and rest, which is not compatible with alojamento local.