A recent sentence has endorsed the agreement adopted in December 2022 by a community of owners of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to give pregnancy to holiday homes. The majority of the residents of that building approved, “after an intense debate,” prohibit rents less than four months for this modality. There was only one vote against, that of the company that holds an apartment in tourist exploitation, the same that took the case to the courts through a lawsuit that has just been dismissed by Monica Herreras, magistrate of the Court of First Instance number 17 of the capital.
The judicial resolution, issued on January 27, is not yet firm. It can be appealed in appeal. The plaintiff sought to declare the nullity of that agreement of the Ordinary General Meeting of the Community or, failing that, that it did not apply to the house of her property, with the argument that she had been exercising the holiday rental activity since May of 2023, seven months before the Community Agreement, and that had communicated its beginning to the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce of the Government of the Canary Islands.
The owner of that floor for tourist use argued that the obligation to rent for a minimum of four months supposed, de factothe “prohibition” of continuing to exploit it as a holiday housing and its transformation into a “common lease”, subject to the urban lease law, with “mandatory extensions and concordant regulations.”
The community of owners, represented in this procedure by lawyer Yanira Victoria Henríquez, maintained, instead, that there is neither in the sector regulation or in the urban lease law an explicit reference to what the duration of a rental should be so that be considered as a holiday or as stable to cover the need for permanent housing of the lessee. In addition, he denied the damage alleged by the plaintiff, since she understood that she has “real possibilities” of continuing to exploit the house and warned that she did not have the mandatory authorization of the competent administration to exercise the holiday rental activity.
In its argument to dismiss the demand, the recent sentence emphasizes that article 17.12 of the Horizontal Property Law allows the communities of owners to put the holiday rentals preserve as long as the agreements are endorsed by a majority of three fifths, without this Impose a modification of the type of rent.
The magistrate of Las Palmas cites a resolution issued by the Provincial Court of Segovia in 2020 that underlines that article 17.12 is an exception to the “rule of unanimity”, since “that double majority” (of three fifths) of the community members not only to limit the exercise of the holiday rental activity, but also prohibit it. “It is not true that the legislator wanted to be limited and not prohibit, without unanimity, the tourist use” of the houses, results in the aforementioned sentence of the provincial body.
This interpretive criterion is the most relevant of the recent sentence, since it connects with a legislative modification that has just been approved and will enter into force in April. When the owner of the tourist floor of the capital of Grancanaria filed the lawsuit, in March 2023, article 17.12 spoke of the possibility of the communities of owners of “limiting or conditioning” the holiday rental activity with a majority of three fifths. With that wording, sentences that interpreted the norm occurred in the sense that, if they wanted to allow the prohibition of the holiday rental activity, the legislator would have explained it in the law, with that word.
The magistrate of the Court of First Instance 17 of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria departs from that interpretation by adopting the criteria manifested by the Provincial Court of Segovia. It also refers to a resolution of the General Directorate of Legal Security and Public Faith of the Ministry of Justice that attributes to the Board of Owners “broad powers to decide in the matters of interest of the community”.
The truth is that, in the midst of this judicial procedure, a modification of the aforementioned article 17.12 has been approved that comes to resolve the background controversy. Organic Law 1/2025 on measures in the field of efficiency of the Public Justice Service, published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) on January 5, a final provision is introduced that changes the writing of that article and incorporates in form Explicit the verb prohibit, together with limiting and conditioning, with respect to the holiday rental and with the same condition. That is, the favorable vote of the three fifths of the owners.
In addition to being after the Agreement of the Community of Owners of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria that imposed rents exceeding four months, that legislative modification will not enter into force until April, so it has not affected the aforementioned ruling.
There is no authorization
The lawsuit contained a main claim, to cancel the agreement of the community of owners, and a subsidiary, not apply it to the controversial housing because, according to its owner, the holiday rental activity had been exercised for months.
According to the sentence from the testimonies collected during the procedure and documentation, the neighbors decided Common areas. After consulting it in the General Tourist Registry, the Office of Renewal and Alphabby Establishments of the Insular Corporation reported that in that direction no registered house for that use was included. Nor was the VV poster (holiday housing) prescribed by the regulation that regulates this sector in the Canary Islands, Decree 113/2015.
This decree stipulates that to initiate the exploitation of a holiday housing, it is necessary to present a responsible statement before the Cabildo. It will be the Insular Administration who registered the activity in the General Tourism Registry of the Autonomous Community as long as it meets the requirements and that presents the justification documentation required. According to the judge, therefore, “it is not proven” that the agreement of the community of owners harms them for their possible retroactivity, since the legal initiation of the activity has not been accredited before the approval of that measure.
Tensioning area
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has been the first municipality of the islands that has given to the regional government a technical report to justify its declaration as a housing area. The capital’s Plenary last Friday an agreement to urge the Executive to “take into consideration” that report in order to regulate the price of rentals and facilitate access to citizenship housing.
The City Council defends that the declaration of tension zone will allow “making very important decisions to improve living conditions in the city.” Among them, “correct the distorting effect” caused by the proliferation of holiday housing.
According to the data collected by this report, from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), the number of tourist housing in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has passed 2,050 units in August of 2020 to 4,716 in October 2024.
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