One of the central themes of the round table of the X Congress of Tourist Dwellings ofIbiza, organized by the Association of Holiday Dwellings of Ibiza and Formentera (AVAT), which took place this morning at the Hotel Torre del Mar(AVAT), which took place this morning at the Hotel Torre del Mar has been the fight against illegal tourist rentals. The island director of Tourism Promotion of the Consell de Ibiza, Juan Miguel Costa, said that it is “a before and after” the incorporation of urban planning regulations to the fight against intrusion. This is the new way that allows municipalities to get involved in the prosecution with tourism inspectors, from the last Consell de Alcaldes held in Sant Josep. Now, to the prohibition of illegal tourist rentals already contemplated in the tourism legislation, is added the prohibition of tourist rentals in multi-family houses through urban planning in Sant Josep, Sant Antoni and Sant Joan (Villa and Santa Eulària already have this measure). In this way, a new prohibition is added to the existing one, which will allow the municipalities to pursue the improper use of rentals in these homes and expand the means of control and punishment of this type of illegal activity, with the closure of apartments and heavier penalties.
22 million against intrusion
In addition, the incorporation of the lieutenant colonel of the Civil Guard, Enrique Gómez Bastida, who will be appointed in the near future as director of the Office for Combating Intrusiveness, which depends on the vice president Mariano Juan. Gómez Bastida will be responsible for coordinating all inspection services, both the Consell and the municipalities, against tourist rentals.
In addition to the legislative modification, there is a fundamental tool: the project to receive some 22 million euros from the eco-tax over the next three years. For the first time since the creation of the Sustainable Tourism Tax (ITS) in 2016, next year part of these funds will be allocated to fight against illegal tourism supply, which is one of the main concerns of the public administration and the sector itself, as announced by the Minister of Tourism, Jaume Bauzà. With these funds, the city councils will be able to reinforce the inspection services in the fight against intrusion. Also the Consell will have resources to outsource the processing of the files or part of them to companies and professional projects.
“They end up paying.”
On the other hand, the insular director Juan Miguel Costa explained that the owners who do not comply with the tourist rental regulations “end up paying” the fines established by the Consell. In that sense, he contradicted the urban legend that fines are not paid, so he asked that the actors involved, both the Consell and the five municipalities, must “do the maximum to fight against this”.
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Costa has pointed out that Ibiza has approximately 160,000 residents and that on the days of greatest human pressure that have been recorded on the island there are between 320,000 and 340,000 people at the same time. For that reason, he estimates 60,000 vacancies that escape from the regulated offer, taking into account that in Ibiza there are 100,000 authorized tourist vacancies between hotels and holiday homes.
