ASCAV lodge complaint against proposed holiday rental law

ASCAV, the Canarian holiday rental owner’s association, claimed to have lodged a complaint against the Canarian government’s proposed new holiday rental law.

The Canarian Tourist Minister, Jessica de Léon, however, cast doubt on the complaint, saying “We have no evidence that such a complaint has been admitted for processing nor that it has been formally presented to the Commission or any other body of the EU.”

De Léon pointed out that the law had not yet been approved.

De Leon also accused ASCAV of “muddying the democratic process” by attempting to “discredit a legitimate act of legislature.”

Likewise, the Canary Executive has defended that “it has complied with all the legal requirements demanded in the processing of the Law” and that, therefore, this complaint has not “produced” nor is it expected in the “future” to produce “any consequences.”

Doris Borrego of ASCAV responded “It is the Ministry of Tourism itself that has presented a proposal for a Law to put an end to holiday rentals that did not appear in the election manifesto and will go against the interests of thousands of voters.”

The Association assures that it “is made up of free citizens in full exercise of their civil rights who legitimately defend their rights through the legally established channels. Just because we do not allow ourselves to be run over by a Bill that definitively expels Canarian families who are dedicated to holiday rentals, does not imply that we ‘muddy the democratic process’”.

In truth, it’s difficult to assess the popularity of the proposed law. A limit on holiday rentals has been one of the main demands of the recent protests against mass tourism, and the recent rise in holiday rentals has been seen as a major contributory cause of the housing crisis.

However, there is also strong suspicion that the Canarian Government is acting in the interests of hoteliers rather than ordinary Canarians, as well as concern that the number of registered holiday rentals has actually soared since the law was announced.