Tourists face three-year ban in 43 areas in Spain as new controls introduced
Tourists looking to holiday in Spain face falling victim to a raft of controls imposed by the government which have been implemented to address the issue of over tourism.
The country has introduced bans on the registration of new holiday rental properties in 43 areas. It could see visitors struggle to find accommodation.
The Costa del Sol, a favourite for Scots, is the latest region to introduce a ban in the hope of stopping mass tourism. The province in Malaga is visited by hundreds of thousands of Brits each year.
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In recent months, Spanish locals have been holding major protests in busy areas over tourism. The permanent residents believe tourists buying homes to rent in the country is having a major impact on their lives including housing shortages and the environment.
And this has prompted dozens of authorities to introduce bans on new holiday rentals being registered.
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Spanish officials approved the measures last December, and the laws came into effect on Tuesday, January 14. They're due to stay in place for three years, putting a cap on the amount of accommodation available for tourists. The three year ban is expected to be extended however, reports the Mirror.
It followed a recent study which discovered that, in some areas, nearly one in 10 (8%) family homes were taken up by holiday rentals. It's hoped the drastic measures will significantly halt the growth of holiday rentals in Malaga city.
Now no new tourist accommodation can be registered in 43 most crowded areas of the city, including the historic centre, El Ejido, La Merced and dozens more districts. It's thought neighbouring countries France and Portugal could also follow suit if the scheme proves successful, with concerns among their populations too over mass tourism.
Malaga however is far from the only place in Spain with growing disharmony towards tourists. Locals in Barcelona last year took to spraying visitors with water guns out of fury, while residents in Palma, Majorca, staged a large protest last summer over tourism, with calls to slash the number of holiday beds available by 40%.
Limits approved by Malaga's local council last June will also remain in force, meaning that tourist flats registered since February 22 that do not have access and supplies separate from the residential section of the building in which they're based will have their licences cancelled.
In the city, 13,000 holiday rentals are already officially registered, according to Sur in English. After Marbella, it's reported that Malaga has the second highest volume of holiday rentals.
In June last year, Barcelona's mayor announced plans to ban all tourist apartments by November 2028. Alicante has imposed a two-year ban on new licences for short-term holiday rentals in order to address concerns over mass tourism and housing supplies. Several areas have also increased the tourist tax charged to visitors including the Canary Islands, the Balearic Islands and Barcelona.
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