Protection

Back to the letters page in "The Bulletin". I thoroughly commend the letter about holiday rentals that appeared yesterday.

Here is an area, holiday rentals, that tells you much of what you need to know about how officialdom works or rather doesn't work. It is an area of confusion, lack of clarity, massive doses of self-interest and arguably protectionism and anti-competitiveness. That's a pretty damning charge sheet.

The letter-writer draws attention to information from the regional government tourism ministry, which, he says, states that an apartment may be rented out without any licence so long as it is not marketed as a holiday apartment. He also draws attention, news to me I must say, that holiday accommodation cannot be marketed by local estate agents. In other words, all those agencies which are doing so, and their number is vast, are breaking the law. You can add in the confusion surrounding the rent of other property, whether villa, finca, house; add in whether apartments in a block must all be on the same basis and have a reception area; add in the fact that licences for finca rental cannot now be obtained. Add in all this lot, and you have the most God awful mess.

Holiday rentals are an important part of the tourism mix. They are important for the very simple reason that not everyone wants to stay in a hotel. But herein lies the rub. The government and of course the hoteliers want everyone to stay in a hotel. They are misguided, narrow-minded and wrong. The hotels exert enormous influence both economically and politically in Mallorca - and justifiably so. Tourism growth was largely the consequence of investment in hotel stock. Many hotel chains and hotels rank as excellent. Mallorca's leading hotel chains are international players, while locally they appear at the top of the list of the island's wealth-generating businesses. They have a right to preserve what they have created, but not at the expense of a mixed tourism market. The hotel lobby, though, has been the strongest voice in seeking government curbs on the holiday-rental market. It is the hotels' self-interest which has led to much of the current confusion as legislation, communicated unclearly and implemented haphazardly by local and regional government agencies not clear themselves as to the legislation, has been heaped upon the wider tourism market in an attempt at gaining market protection. There is more than just a hint of discrimination as well. Many apartments and other holiday-rental accommodation are foreign owned.

Notwithstanding regulation that seeks to ensure that taxes are paid and that safety and quality standards are adhered to (and such regulation is to be applauded), much of the rest is a nonsense. Just go back to that bit about not marketing a flat as a holiday apartment. This is the tourism ministry saying so. What else is tourism but holidays? This is ridiculous.

The holiday-rental morass is indicative of a wider malaise, one of legal obfuscation and sometimes protectionism by the backdoor. One only has to consider the lunatic situation regarding bar closing times to appreciate how such obfuscation can be played out. Calvia town hall closed bars at 11, interpreting a new law which classified "evening" as ending at 11. The relevant ministry, environment, told them not to. What was the point of the new classification in that case? Take another example - driving licences. How many residents are clear what the rules are? Or another, that in respect of boat charters and the enormous fines being levied. Where's the fairness?

Democracies operate on the basis of fair, just and transparent legal systems, but one cannot avoid a conclusion that not all is right with the operation of local legal systems and their subsequent implementation down the chain of governmental levels, unclear as to what they mean. Too much seems to be made up on the hoof, superimposed on previous legislation and then left open to all sorts of interpretation. And the holiday-rentals market is a classic example.

All too often the response to such situations is a shrug and an "oh, well, that's Spain". It doesn't wash any longer, especially where an important part of the tourism market - and a revenue-generator for governments - is concerned. It should all be very simple. You have some accommodation and wish to rent it out. Fair enough, obtain the relevant licence, meet the relevant standards and pay your taxes. Simple. But not. Because, for example, the process to obtain the licence in the first place would fall down the great black hole of local bureaucracy. And because also there is a powerful group that will do what it can to stop you.

They need to get it sorted, but they won't.


QUIZ
Yesterday's title - The Four Seasons, "December 63", http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQO9LNELIKQ. Today's title - brilliant; who?

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