Andalucía brings in new system to stop registration of tourist apartments in restricted areas

The Junta's regional ministry of tourism is launching this week a mechanism to prevent the registration of properties for tourist use (known as a VUT) in the Andalusian tourism registry (RTA) if they are located in municipalities where there are already planning restrictions. For the time being, the measure will be implemented in the cities of Cadiz, Malaga, Seville and El Puerto de Santa Maria, pending the addition of more municipalities with similar issues.

Among the limitations proposed, the system provides for the "suspension of registration of properties for tourist use for a specific period or maximum number of units per zone", the Junta specified in a recently published statement. The Junta added that this mechanism would mean that any 'responsible declaration' form submitted as part of the registration process would be rejected if any such urban planning breaches were present.

The mechanism allows for the automatic generation of a resolution to deny registration if the declaration submitted applies to a property in the aforementioned areas. This measure provides greater legal certainty for property owners going down the tourist rental route. If not denied at this early stage, they would be exposed to a process of cancellation of their tourist licence and possible liability. Furthermore, this makes some progress in reducing the administrative burden resulting from subsequent cancellation and sanctioning procedures for non-compliance.

For Arturo Bernal, regional minister for tourism, this measure demonstrates that Juanma Moreno's regional government continues to make progress in regulating, managing and controlling this phenomenon of tourist rentals that has grown so much in recent years across the whole region. "We are thus taking another step towards guaranteeing the excellence of Andalucía as a [tourist] destination with accommodation that complies with quality and legal standards, in line with our commitment to quality tourism that allows us to remain a benchmark region in tourism management," he stated.

Bernal also noted that the Junta has been working hand in hand with local councils to manage the control of these tourist properties, signing eight agreements to strengthen oversight and information exchange. Furthermore, over 20 more such agreements are currently being processed.