Xunta de Galicia

Owners must enter their registration number in the online platforms where they are offered and submit their occupancy data quarterly

After the entry into force of the changes relating to the regulation of Tourist Dwellings, the Xunta has announced that, from February onwards, it will intensify the controls on this type of accommodation, with the aim of continuing to make progress in the organisation of this phenomenon and in which it also specified the regulatory changes that affect this type of accommodation. With these measures, the autonomous administration seeks to guarantee the coexistence of this type of accommodation with the rest of the types of accommodation, making it possible for both the people who offer these services and those who contract them to do so with guarantees and total legal security for both.

As advanced by the head of the Department of Culture and Tourism, Román Rodríguez, it is necessary to continue “taking steps forward” in the organization of this type of establishment and stressed the need to curb the illegal offer, which is why controls in this area will be intensified.

Registration number and occupation data
In addition to the increase in inspection activity throughout 2020, Román Rodríguez detailed the regulatory changes promoted by the Galician Government with respect to this type of establishment and which came into force on 1 January. Among the new features is the requirement that all homes for tourist use include in those computer platforms that offer the registration number in the Register of Companies and Tourist Activities of Galicia (REAT). This is a measure that aims to provide this activity with greater transparency, especially for users, allowing them to differentiate the illegal offer from that which complies with current regulations.

At the same time, from 2020 it will be compulsory for the owners of these establishments to send their occupation data to the Galician Government every quarter, an aspect for which there are no exact figures as yet, given that homes for tourist use combine residential and tourist use.

As the Regional Minister of Culture and Tourism specified, in spite of the fact that the changes came into force last January 1st, the Xunta will carry out during the whole month of January a merely informative work, informing the owners who do not comply with any of these aspects of the modifications introduced and of the obligation to comply with them. It will be from February onwards that the corresponding sanctions will begin to be processed which, depending on the case, will fall on the owners or on the marketing platforms.

Collaboration of the agents involved
Román Rodríguez underlined that these new measures show the commitment of the Galician Government to continue organizing this type of accommodation, although he recalled that the Xunta is not the only administration with competences in this matter, so he urged the rest of public entities and agents involved to collaborate in the regulation of this type. In the case of the central government, he reiterated the request for progress to be made in a regulatory framework that would make it possible to homogenize the regulations implemented by the various Autonomous Communities. Similarly, he called for the involvement of online marketing platforms in tackling illegal supply in this sector.

In addition, the holder of Culture and Tourism recalled that both the communities of neighbors and the municipalities have powers in this area. In this sense, he highlighted the agreement reached last summer with the Galician Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (Fegamp) for the development of a standard ordinance that favors that the municipalities can exercise their powers in this area more easily. At the same time, he indicated that the Xunta is “at the disposal” of all the city councils to advance in this area. In fact, he said that in the coming weeks there will be a meeting with representatives of the City Council of Santiago to analyze the particularities of this phenomenon in the Galician capital.