Alejandro Marichal: "No resident in our municipality has been living illegally in the tourist zone, and we will defend that."
Davinia Ramírez: "These ordinances will resolve the uncertainty faced by 16.000 residents of the tourist area."
Maribe Doreste: "We appreciate how Alejandro Marichal and his team have consistently reached out to create a 21st-century city that puts citizens at the center, not just economic activity."
The Urban Planning Department of the San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council, led by Davinia Ramírez (CC), has formalized the contract for the drafting of the Municipal Provisional Ordinances that will clarify the compatibility between residential and tourist uses on plots in the municipality's tourist area. This commission, awarded to Professor Fran Villar through the General Foundation of the University of La Laguna, responds to the plenary agreement of June 27, 2024, which declared the urgent need to regulate this coexistence of uses while the General Planning is amended.
The Provisional Ordinances seek to establish the provisional compatibility of residential and tourist uses on plots that the current municipal planning designates as "Apartments" or "Bungalows." This measure will allow both uses to coexist on the same plot, provided that the tourist uses comply with applicable regional regulations. Thus, as First Deputy Mayor Alejandro Marichal clarifies, the Provisional Ordinances do not aim to transform tourist areas into residential areas, but rather to regularize existing situations and, thereby, "offer legal security to residents who have lived in tourist areas for decades."
This initiative is part of the Canary Islands Government's response to the problem of residential use in tourist areas. It should be noted that the Governing Council approved a Decree-Law of urgent measures that temporarily suspends, at the request of those affected, fines for residing in tourist areas. This decree granted local councils a maximum of three years to carry out the specialization of uses in these areas, allowing residents to request a change of use from the local government.
Marichal explains that "we are carrying out this procedure because the Canary Islands Government has requested it, but we believe that current legislation already allows for residence in tourist areas. First, because most of the apartments were built before 1995. Second, because Land Law 2/2017 consolidated the existing residential use until January 1, 2017. And, as if this were not enough, the 1996 General Urban Development Plan for San Bartolomé de Tirajana did not specialize the use of the plots. Therefore, it is incomprehensible that the Regional Ministry, based on Article 23 of Law 2/2013 on the Renewal and Modernization of Tourism in the Canary Islands, requires our residents to comply with tourist use without such specialization. In the worst-case scenario, many of the residents would be protected by a legal status of consolidated residential use, so no resident is illegal, and we will defend this to the bitter end."
The drafting of the ordinances, which must be completed within six months, has been entrusted to a team led by Francisco José Villar Rojas, Professor of Administrative Law at the University of La Laguna. Professor Villar Rojas has extensive experience in urban planning law, having coordinated the drafting team for Law 4/2017, of July 13, on Land and Protected Natural Areas of the Canary Islands, and subsequently for the Canary Islands Planning Regulations. As the Councilor for Urban Planning, Davinia Ramírez, emphasized, "these ordinances will resolve the situation of uncertainty faced by 16.000 residents in the tourist area."
Maribe Doreste, president of the Platform for People Affected by the Tourism Law, also participated in the meeting with the drafting team. She thanked the City Council for its involvement: "We are grateful to the municipal corporation for doing its part to help solve a major social problem, which has many people worried about their future and that of their homes. We appreciate how Alejandro Marichal and his team have always reached out to collaborate and together achieve a 21st-century city that puts citizens at the center, not just economic activity."
