TW
8

The local ministry for tourism has backed a proposal for owners of legal holiday accommodation for rental purposes to share information on guests with the police. The local ministry for tourism will be providing the police and Guardia Civil with information on all rental holiday accommodation. The local authorities were quick to point out yesterday that it was not a question of "Big Brother is watching" but more a case of having information, if necessary, on who is staying where. It is part of Spain's new anti-terrorism plan but it puts so-called illegal holiday rentals even further in the spotlight.

It could be argued that if you rent out your property illegally you are not only breaking local ministry for tourism laws it also flies directly in the face of the new anti-terrorism laws. I suspect that one of the reasons why the Balearic government was anxious to resolve the issue of illegal holiday rentals was because of the anti-terrorism legislation. Hoteliers have a similar agreement with the security services and will provide them with the necessary information on guests if required. Police officials said that the legislation was helping to make the Balearics safe. Over recent months the local ministry for tourism has been cracking down on illegal holiday accommodation and has even fined some of the big internet booking companies for listing properties which did not have the necessary paperwork from the local authorities.