British and Irish owners of second homes in the Canary Islands have been fined £2,000 for refusing to rent their holiday properties to tourists.
Apartment owners in southern Gran Canaria have been fined £2,000 for living in these houses rather than renting apartments specially built for tourists.
They are not only required to rent the apartments to holidaymakers, but they must also do so through a registered tourist operator and cannot do so themselves.
The sanctions have led to protests on the island against the effects of legislation punishing people wishing to use their property in tourist areas as their main residence or holiday home.
Reports from April last year identified a Spanish OAP as the first person fined under a controversial tourism law by the Canary Islands regional government.
And overnight, Irishman John Hefferman vented his anger by revealing how he arrived at the Gran Canaria holiday home he bought 13 years ago and was fined £1,930 ($2,250 €) was waiting for him.
“TOURIST GO HOME”: Graffiti has appeared in the Canary Islands urging tourists to “go home” and accusing vacationers of bringing “misery” to locals.
Irishman John Hefferman expressed his anger as he revealed how he arrived at the holiday home (pictured right) in Gran Canaria he bought 13 years ago and was fined £1,930 (€2,250). ) was waiting for him.
‘MA MISERY YOUR PARADISE’: Islanders are apparently annoyed that people’s vacations are ruining their homes
The property is in a building called Apartamentos Las Algas, in the south of the island.
Mr. Hefferman is one of 400 owners reportedly sanctioned in recent months.
Those affected say the government is under pressure from tourism operators, who say the residential use of apartments in resorts has led to the loss of 68,000 beds for tourists across the islands.
Although some of the people who received the fines appealed, Mr. Hefferman complained that he was unable to pay because he did not learn of them until three months after they were issued, while it was too late to fight.
He told respected island newspaper Canarias 7 in the evening: “We paid the fine, but the problem is that it’s a bit unfair.
“We believe that the fines are suspended for the people who appealed, but we did not have the opportunity to appeal because we did not receive it in time.
“The other problem is we find it very worrying. We bought this apartment to spend our winter months here and our family comes here too.
“If we can’t do it, we might have to sell it.” Certainly this apartment will be devalued if this rule is applied.
“We are very concerned about the future of this case. It is unfair. I don’t understand why this is happening after 13 years of enjoying this place.
He also questioned why the fine was not sent to his home in Ireland, which he described as his registered address when he obtained his NIE, an identification number given to foreigners in Spain.
“TOURIST, RESPECT MY LAND”: Islanders reportedly angry at increased tourist traffic
“AVERAGE SALARY IN THE CANARY ISLANDS 1,200 EUROS”: The term “average salary” refers to the low salaries observed on the island in relation to rising rents, increasing interest rates and the cost of living due to inflation rates.
“TOURIST GO HOME”: Messages included “Tourists go home”, “My misery, your paradise” and “The average salary in the Canary Islands is €1,200”
Mr Hefferman, who insisted he was never informed when he bought his property of the legislation which currently affected him and said the owners of his building used their apartments in the same way as he would be the first non-Spaniard to speak out on the situation. fines.
Hundreds of people demonstrated last September in Playa del Ingles, a seaside resort on Gran Canaria, against the Canary Islands government’s decision to impose fines in a legal dispute over the country’s tourism law. 2013.
Maribe Doreste, vice president of a group called Plataforma de Afectados por la Ley Turistica, which translates into English as “Platform for People Affected by the Tourism Law,” called what is happening “a constitutional violation of the jurisprudence of the Spanish Supreme Court”. Tribunal concerning the right to property and free residence.’
She also accused companies involved in tourist rentals of pressuring politicians not to change the law and solve the problem.