Comment: Holiday rentals’ woe

The decree doesn’t place huge demands on holiday rentals. Specifics concern water-saving and energy - boilers running on electricity or gas, for instance. Otherwise, rentals are caught in the government’s catch-all freeze on new (additional) accommodation places for a four-year period.

Habtur points out that holiday rental places have a far higher churn rate than hotels because owners opt for change of use - to live in rather than be rented out - and that deregistered places are then lost from the pool for places. But this is a situation that Habtur has been complaining about regardless of the decree.

One says complain, but in recent times little has been heard from Habtur. The association is also irked by the fact that it was excluded from any pre-decree discussion. But how effective has it been as a lobby group? It was once the case that Habtur (Aptur as was) was rarely out of the picture. Consecutive presidents, Juan Estarellas and Joan Miralles, gave the association a high profile.

Since Miralles left, there has been comparative silence.

It may not have made any difference and it may continue to make no difference, but an impression is of an association previously highly vocal that has ceased to be an effective voice. Whether one is pro or against holiday rentals, there is a sector to be defended.