The Association of Tourist Apartments of Barcelona (APARTUR) maintains that the recent ruling by the Supreme Court (TS) on the state's Single Registry of tourist rentals supports the sector's arguments and confirms "resoundingly" the warnings and claims it has been making since the processing of this regulation began, as reported in a statement released this Thursday.
The employers' association had challenged the model designed by the Government, understanding that it constituted "a clear overreach with respect to the framework established by European regulations, by imposing a parallel state system that generated legal uncertainty, duplication of registries and authorization regimes," in addition to, in its opinion, an invasion of regional competencies in tourism and housing.
In its ruling, the TS concludes that the State does not have the powers to establish a complete regulation for a Spanish registry that "overlaps with existing regional registries regarding the registration of properties intended for tourist rentals."
"We have been warning for months that the state's Single Registry was born with a serious fundamental problem: it duplicated existing structures, generated legal uncertainty, and encroached on regional competencies. Today the Supreme Court has clearly and forcefully sided with the sector," states the general director of Apartur, Marian Muro.
The association emphasizes that the sector has worked in coordination with public administrations to pursue irregular supply and recalls that, in the last ten years, the Barcelona City Council has issued more than 10,000 closure orders against illegal tourist apartments.