They remind the public officials of San Bartolomé de Tirajana that the Land Law prohibits residential use in tourist properties, with very precise exceptions
The Association of Tourist Accommodation Entrepreneurs of Las Palmas (AEAT), integrated into the Federation of Hospitality and Tourism Entrepreneurs (FEHT) of Las Palmas, has expressed its surprise at the recent statements by the councilor of the San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council Alejandro Marichal , who, in the act of his presentation as a Canary Coalition (CC) candidate for mayor of said municipality of Gran Canaria, defended the consolidation of residential use on tourist land.
In this regard, the business organization has considered that this statement, stated without further detail, can lead to ambiguous interpretations and strengthen certain convictions in residents who irregularly reside in tourist complexes, to the detriment of the main economic engine of the municipality. In this regard, the AEAT recalls that the generalization of residential use in tourist properties weighs down economic activity and employment derived from the operation of tourist complexes, with serious consequences for the productive fabric of the municipality and the destination as a whole. And, at the same time, it represents the wrong path when it comes to addressing the problems of the housing market in the south of Gran Canaria.
On the other hand, it is worth remembering that, since the entry into force of the Land Law in 2017, only those owners who can demonstrate that they were already carrying out said use prior to January 1 of that year can maintain their residence in tourist complexes. anus.
From the Association of Tourist Accommodation Businessmen of Las Palmas, an association of the non-hotel sector within the FEHT, justified concern has been shown for years about the advance of residentialization in tourist complexes, despite the existence of regional laws that limit and They penalize this behavior.
The existence of non-operating units significantly complicates and damages the operation, management and image of tourist establishments. The needs and schedules of both uses, tourist and residential, often conflict and interfere with each other. Furthermore, the legal and maintenance obligations for a tourist establishment are far greater than those for a residence, often placing a burden that residents are not willing to bear.
All of this has repercussions on a progressive deterioration in the quality perceived by clients of an accommodation, so that its image and reputation decline as residentialization increases. As an unintended consequence, the owners of the accommodation units that remain on the farm stop obtaining the desired income and may also end up putting their units up for sale for residential use which, it is worth insisting, lacks legal coverage beyond the exception. previously mentioned. In this sense, the position of non-hotel entrepreneurs is to avoid a dynamic that ends up making it unfeasible to continue with tourist activity, thus causing all the jobs in the affected establishment to disappear.
For all of the above, the AEAT requests Councilor Alejandro Marichal, as well as the rest of the public officials with responsibilities in the municipal area of San Bartolomé de Tirajana, to avoid giving rise to certain attitudes with their statements that violate current laws on tourism. and demands in turn the protection of the continuity of jobs in the non-hotel sector, which continues to represent 50% of the accommodation places in Gran Canaria.