Jason MoorePalma20/07/2018 00:00
TW

The Balearic government is quite rightly trying to find a solution to the shortage of affordable housing and Palma town hall has banned holiday apartment rentals in the city for this reason. Over the last few years there has been a big growth in the number of apartments which were being rented out to tourists on a weekly basis. Bars and restaurants and even shops were over the moon, their takings rose so everyone was happy. But the town hall said enough was enough and banned this sort of holiday rental on the grounds that there was a shortage of homes for the resident population.

I can see the wisdom of this idea but at the same time shouldn't the town hall be building more affordable homes for the local resident population? If there is a shortage then perhaps the council should act and not outlaw a profitable sideline which benefited many people in the city. I sometimes think that local authorities get hold of the wrong end of the stick. We need tourists, we need their revenue, it is not their fault that there is a shortage of affordable housing. In fact, it could be argued that without tourists the resident population would be hard pushed to afford a rent in the first place.

I do not understand why the local authorities are trying to curb holiday home rentals when they bring in income for the local economy. Make it easier for people to rent out their homes to tourists is the way forward. The town hall will collect more funds and it can build more housing.