The housing law debate has intensified as coalition allies seek to refine the regulation to curb the impact of tourist rentals in areas facing housing stress. After reaching a preliminary agreement with the ERC and EH Bildu, talks are poised to resume this Monday with the aim of improving the text and narrowing the scope of regulation. The central concern is to prevent a flood of tourist accommodations in sectors where housing demand is tight by setting clear limits on income thresholds that would define permissible tourist use. In this view, the idea is to prevent large property owners from withdrawing residences from the long term rental market and redirecting them toward tourism, ensuring that the proportion of tourist units in stressed areas does not surpass a defined share of the local housing stock, with a target around two percent of the resident population. This approach seeks to maintain a balance between tourism activity and the availability of permanent housing for local residents, and it is framed as a safeguard against speculative pressures in the rental market.
During last week’s committee session in Congress, the PNV highlighted concerns about this issue and chose to abstain from voting while amendments were being prepared to negotiate improvements. The tourist sector voices, including major hotel and management groups, urged that the provisions be clarified and regulated before the law becomes operative. Informants describe this push as a transactional adjustment designed to cap the number of tourist destinations within areas under housing stress, with the objective of stabilizing prices and discouraging hedge funds or large owners from diverting properties away from housing and into vacation rentals. The emphasis is on preventing price spikes and preserving community housing stock for long term residents.
The Podemos proposal specifies that in areas designated as stressed, the cap on tourist attractions would be set at two percent of the local population. For example, in a zone with a population of one hundred thousand, tourist rental activity would be limited to two thousand five hundred units. The proposal also underlines that the coalition agreement signed by the prime minister and the deputy prime minister commits to regulating tourist rentals, but specifies that the text should allow communities of homeowners to prohibit tourist use under certain conditions for lease activity or performance. In this framing, the aim is not simply to impose a gridlock but to empower local communities to determine what usage best serves their housing needs while protecting residents from intrusive tourist activity.
Critics argue that the measures are necessary to hinder large landowners from using loopholes to dodge rent regulation. They contend that the country must enforce the letter of the first housing law in its democracy, applying rules down to the smallest details. Podemos sources insist that the changes are essential to ensure real compliance and to prevent a situation where influential owners reclassify properties to bypass restrictions. The regulation is expected to be debated in Congress in the upcoming Thursday session, at which point the proposed amendments are expected to gain prominence and shape the final form of the law. At stake is a broader effort to align housing policy with social equity goals while addressing the pressures created by a booming tourism sector and a housing market under stress in major urban areas.