Agriculture

Island councils to decide on farming land tourist stays

Majorca Daily Bulletin reporterPalma10/11/2018 14:52

The government's new farming law is to be adjusted so that it will be impossible to build in zones of high agrarian value (ZAVA) unless the building is clearly linked to agricultural activity. As such, this would mean no building on any rustic land in Sa Pobla, Campos, much of the Pla de Sant Jordi in Palma and the whole of Ibiza.

The initial draft of the law had created problems for both PSOE and Més, whose solutions were different. Discussions between the parties have now led to this adjustment, though there is a paradox in the case of Minorca, where the law would contemplate new buildings that aren't specifically linked to farming.

Even with this adjustment, there could be some modification of the law's provisions as PSOE and Més have agreed to allow island councils to make definitive decisions with regard to ZAVAs. In theory, these could be less restrictive.

Also contained in this law is the concept of "agro-stays", in other words tourist places in farmhouses. Originally the number of places was limited to six, but this could now be up to ten. A proviso with this is that the properties would have to be ones in which owners live. This, however, has raised its own problems. It is not usual for owners to live on farms. Owners and farmers are not the same person in many instances.

It will therefore be left to island councils to come up with conditions for these agro-stays.