The Canary Islands Holiday Rental Association takes the Spanish Government’s Ministry of Housing to the Supreme Court and the European Commission
THANKS TO Lancelot Digital
The Canary Islands Vacation Rental Association ASCAV has filed an appeal before the Supreme Court against Royal Decree 1312/2024, of December 23, which creates the Single Rental Registry procedure and creates the Digital Single Rental Window for the collection and exchange of data relating to short-term accommodation rental services.
This regulation establishes the obligation that all tourist accommodation in Spain, as well as those rented for short periods of time (a student flat, for example) must be registered in a central register dependent on the Ministry of Housing. The procedure will be carried out through the property registers.
The Association understands that the registry created by the Government of Spain is contrary to Regulation 2024/1028 of the European Union (a rule that is supposedly implemented in our country and to which it is subordinated by application of the principle of primacy of community law). The Royal Decree is contrary to European Union law because, for tourist homes, it imposes a duplication of records, an extreme expressly prohibited by the European regulation (art. 4.3 d). That is, tourist homes are already registered in the corresponding autonomous registries, so forcing them to go through a new registration again, before the property registry in this case, frontally violates the European rule that has primacy and preference over the national one.
Furthermore, the Association considers that the contested Royal Decree is contrary to the Spanish Constitution since the Spanish Government assumes powers that do not correspond to it: the Autonomous Communities are responsible for regulating and verifying tourist accommodation (art. 148.1.18ª CE). However, the Government has created a system so that property registrars (dependent on the Ministry of Justice) assume the power to verify tourist accommodation, violating, as has been said, the exclusive powers of the Autonomous Communities.
Given the seriousness of the situation and the irreparable damage that the Royal Decree will cause to the tourist housing sector, to the thousands of jobs that it generates, as well as to its direct economic impact throughout Spain, the Association has asked the Court to adopt a precautionary suspension of the Royal Decree, leaving it without effect, pending the ruling in this procedure.
Likewise, the Canary Islands Holiday Rental Association ASCAV has filed a formal complaint with the European Commission for violation of community regulations by the Government of Spain since, as stated, Royal Decree 1312/2024 is contrary to the law of the union. Once the complaint has been admitted for processing, Spain could be subject to an inspection procedure after which, if the situation is not rectified, it could even be financially sanctioned.
