A very interesting read with information regarding the new rules and laws with tourist holiday rental properties.

Canarian Government redrafts Vivienda Vacacional decree in line with Monopolies Commission demands
5 APRIL 2017
 

Updated 5 April 2017

The Canarian Government has announced that its redraft of the Vivienda Vacacional decree will be published in the near future. Tourism minister María Teresa Lorenzo said in Parliament today that the redrafted decree would allow owners to let residential properties to holidaymakers in touristic areas but with conditions attached, most notably related to quality and security being on a par with that offered by existing tourism businesses so as not to endanger the islands’ tourism model.
The decree in its current form allows private letting to holidaymakers of residential property in non-touristic areas (see HERE for detail), but as reported below, the Government has spent the last couple of years redrafting it after the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC), which we would know as the Monopolies Commission, said that it “restricted competition and created barriers to the market, thereby unjustly privileging tourism businesses and disadvantaging users”.
The minister conceded that there was no form of regulation that would satisfy all sides given the conflicts of interest involved, and said that the Government was attempting to allow “the general interest” to guide legislation. The acknowledgement comes after a question was raised in Parliament about the lack of property to rent, particularly at a reasonable price, in residential areas, which the questioner (Rosa Bella Cabrera Noda, PSOE) said was the result of forcing tourists into these areas, and thus making rental prices soar and residential availability decrease. Cabrera Noda said that the redrafted decree must now be a priority so as to allow other owners to register for a Vivienda Vacacional plaque to release the pressure on these areas.
The Government has not fixed a date for the redrafted decree to be published, but we now know two things: it is not too far away, and it will allow registration under the Vivienda Vacacional scheme for private owners in areas with a touristic designation to let their residential properties to holidaymakers, though under conditions which will only become clear when that decree is published. Until then, existing rules apply. Naturally I will post the details as soon as they are available.
Updated 23 September 2015: As expected, and now confirmed, the Canarian Parliament has approved the motion for the regional Government to paralyze the application of its Vivienda Vacacional decree, and to redraft it. It will now work on a new text that seeks to incorporate both criticisms from the CNMC as well as resistance to looser legislation from Ashotel. In the meantime, VV registrations continue under the terms of the decree as current, though with no inspections nor fines for any violations.
The resolution the Government will have to find in its redraft must satisfy the hoteliers, lobbying groups and owners who want to let their residential properties to holidaymakers, and residents who oppose this fiercely. I remember a philosophy colleague once talking about squaring the circle. I’m not sure I ever understood the concept … until now.
Updated 22 September: The debate in Parliament is to start today, and expected to last at least throughout tomorrow. Already the hoteliers are putting on pressure saying that any softening of the decree will undermine not only the decree but also the main legislation because it would essentially allow for a free-for-all, as well as endangering employment in the only legitimate tourism sector that creates jobs in the hundreds of thousands. It will be interesting to see how the Canarian Government manages to accommodate everyone in a situation where trying to please all sides has resulted in quite the opposite!
Original post 18 September 2015: The Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC), which we would know as the Monopolies Commission, has called for the Canarian Government to modify its Vivienda Vacacional decree (see HERE). In a press release issued this morning, the CNMC said that some clauses of the decree must either be removed or altered because in their current form they restrict competition and create barriers to the market, thereby unjustly privileging tourism businesses and disadvantaging users.
The CNMC says that it notified the Canarian Government in July that these would have to be changed, and hoped that its suggestions would be taken on board, thereby avoiding appeals against the decree in the Courts. It reminded the Government that it is a legitimate body which has the power to intervene in any such respects where competition is compromised.
The Commission is calling for two main changes, namely to allow private owners of residential properties in touristic areas to be able to register under the VV system because excluding them privileges hoteliers and other formal tourism businesses; and to allow private owners of residential properties registered under the VV system to be able to rent out a room to holidaymakers rather than requiring the whole property to be rented out. The other changes being demanded are to reduce the bureaucracy involved in declarations and compliance, both of which increase the cost to owners to enter the tourism market.
It remains now to see how the Canarian Government responds to this. They have to accept these recommendations or else face legal challenge from the CNMC in the Canarian High Court.