Things, when left to the whims of time, are ultimately resolved by judges. And that's exactly what happened in southern Gran Canaria, where a ruling from the Sixth Administrative Court of Las Palmas ruled—in a reversal—in favor of the Canary Islands Government's Department of Tourism. Because let's not kid ourselves: the regional government didn't resolve the issue; it waited. And now it's taking credit for itself.
The case is no small one: a residential complex in San Bartolomé de Tirajana, dedicated to vacation rentals in a development no-man's-land, is exonerated after the judge's ruling, which states, in plain English, that the same people can't always afford to pay for legal chaos: the owners. The result? At least thirty similar cases are in limbo, all in the same complex. And the Regional Ministry, as skillful as it is tardy, is rushing to declare that the ruling "strengthens its position" and that now, yes, now they're going to regulate the planning. As if they had invented it.
The elephant in the room: San Bartolomé and Mogán
For decades, southern tourist complexes—first tourist-oriented, then semi-abandoned, then converted into residential properties, and now Airbnb—have operated under a legal fiction: they are apartments on tourist land where people with electricity contracts, schools, and registered residents live. But for the authorities, they are hotels. Ghost hotels.
And in that context, Tourism issued a battery of sanctions that seemed more like a threat than a solution. Until someone, in 2024, halted the impetus for sanctions and sat back and waited for the judges. Political intelligence or a calculation of attrition—that will be determined only by time.
The truth is that the deputy minister, José Manuel Sanabria, has now come out and said that the ruling "demonstrates the need to specialize planning"—something we've been hearing since the 90s—and that the key is "collaboration between administrations." It's the old trick of putting the ball in the city council's court, when the regional government has been looking the other way for decades.
Legal revolution or temporary patch?
To save institutional prestige, the Ministry of Tourism promises to review each case individually. Sanabria said: "This criterion will only be applied when there is identity of purpose and similarity." Translated: whoever wants justice, should find a good lawyer. Meanwhile, Minister Jéssica de León is preparing to reform regional regulations, like someone rushing to clear the dishes after an explosive dinner. Because if this ruling makes one thing clear, it's that the Canary Islands' tourism model has a fundamental problem, and it can't be fixed with sanctions or technical euphemisms about "planning."
The question is: how is it possible that a complex with thousands of residents operates outside the legal framework for 30 years and no one lifts a finger until scandals and lawsuits arrive? Because if the Canary Islands want to continue selling legal security to investors—and owners—they have to start by cleaning their own house.
