Spain: CNMC warns over restrictions to competition in tourist housing rules

The National Commission of Markets and Competition of Spain gave warning regarding what it considers “unjustified restrictions” contained in proposed new regulation for tourist housing in the province of Murcia. Among these are restrictions on fully renting out a property, maximum limits of 3 months rental, as well as limits on the designated use of land allowed for such activity.

The proposed norms would seek to define the houses for tourist use as those located in land for residential use, furnished, equipped, and marketed for the purpose of being rented for holidays, in addition to establishing mandatory requirements for housing to operate in this way.

The project, with these measures, would seek to close a gap following these properties’ exclusion from the Law of Urban Leases, and thus regulating the rental activity for these spaces with matching conditions to the rest of the tourism industry (such as hotels).

However, the CNMC pointed out that these measures must be reconsidered, since they prevent an efficient allocation of resources with low utilization, reduce access to accommodation at lower prices, and do not take into account recent changes in the behavior and preferences of users and tourists.

“These types of demands are likely to become potentially unjustified barriers to entry, which can distort free competition…”, said the CNMC in its report submitted by request of the Tourism Institute of the Region of Murcia.