698 COMPETITION LAW IN TOURISM the integrity of residence, land planning, and the environment20. The law warned against the impact of short-term housing rentals on the shape and peaceful coexistence in neighbourhoods, as well as on the price and availability of housing for resident population. The law also assumed that short-term housing rentals put pressure on the territory, the roads, the infrastructures, the environment and the hydric and energy resources. The regional nature of some of the new concerns also garnered a response from local regulation. In January 2017, the city of Barcelona, one of the most touristic destinations in Spain, adopted land planning provisions21 prohibiting new licences for short-term housing rentals according to spatial zoning, as part of a broader plan to limit touristic accommodation. Other Spanish cities regulated short-term housing following the example of Barcelona. In January 2018, the city of Madrid adopted a temporary ban to the issuance of new licences for short-term housing rentals22. Also in January 2018, the city of Bilbao amended its land-use planning rules, providing that short- -term housing rentals can only be located in areas with qualified residential land use and only in the lower floors of buildings23. In March 2018, the city of San Sebastian approved a city regulation that set limits to the number of such rentals according to spatial zoning rules, allowing rentals in the lower floors of buildings only and setting caps to the surface of housing that can be devoted to short-term rentals per building24. More recently, inNovember 2018, Santiago de Compostela prohibited new licences for short-term housing rentals in the city centre. 3. CRITICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE REGULATION 3.1. Legal Framework The Spanish Constitution institutes entrepreneurial freedom as a principle of market economy in Spain. The Constitution entrusts all public authorities 20 Law 6/2017, of 31 July, of the Balearic Islands. 21 Plan Especial Urbanístico para la Regulación de los Establecimientos de Alojamiento Turístico, Albergues de Juventud, Residencias Colectivas de Alojamiento Temporal y Viviendas de Uso Turístico en la Ciudad de Barcelona (PEUAT). 22 Agreements of the city council of Madrid of 23 January 2018, 1 February 2018 and 26 July 2018. 23 Modificación pormenorizada del Plan General de Ordenación Urbana de Bilbao, approved on 25 January 2018. 24 Ordenanza municipal reguladora del uso de vivienda turística y de alquiler de habitaciones en vivienda habitual para uso turístico en desarrollo del Plan General de Ordenación Urbana (PGOU) de San Sebastián, approved on 1 March 2018.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTE4NzM5Nw==