The Tourist Association of Costa Brava-Pyrenean Apartments in Girona (ATA) estimates that the Government will have to compensate the owners and managers of tourist accommodation that are forced to close as a result of the new regulation approved on 1,900 million euros last november
The entity denounces that the regulations would force 40% of the regulated supply to be closed, which is equivalent to 17,326 units, over a period of five years. It also warns that the new scenario will encourage intrusion and demands that the Government focus on illegal accommodation and not on professional ones.
The sector held its annual meeting today at the Chamber of Commerce of Girona, where it presented these calculations to its members. It has also announced that it has presented an appeal against the regulations to the Constitutional Court, which has been admitted for processing, and a formal complaint to the European Union arguing that the regulation violates the right to property and freedom of services, companies and establishments.
The president of the ATA, Esther Torrent, points out that the new regulation on housing for tourist use does not solve the intrusion that the sector has long denounced. “We are outraged because the Government has started a hunt against legal apartments and does not act efficiently with illegal ones,” she says.
In this sense, they propose the preparation of a census of active tourist housing licenses by crossing the tourist tax data to have a “clear and rigorous” x-ray of the sector and at the same time detect accommodations that are not active or that are not They declare their taxes. This way of proceeding would be, according to the association, a “more effective formula to fight against intrusion.”
The association has indicated that the prospects for this season are good and reservations are advancing at the expected pace. Last year, the months of July and August closed with an average occupancy of 80% and 93% respectively, a figure higher than that recorded in 2019.
Regarding the impact that the drought episode may have, Torrent explains that managers will raise awareness among clients so that they “be an active part in the rational use of water.” The sector has distributed leaflets prepared by the Costa Brava-Girona Tourism Board among its members to promote water saving in the face of the current emergency episode.
Torrent explains that apartments are the type of accommodation that uses the least water, although tourists’ spending is still higher than that recorded by residents. “We must continue working to equalize the water footprint,” he indicates and has demanded that the Government have “courage” to address the infrastructures that, from his point of view, are necessary, such as the interconnection between the Ebro and the Llobregat.
