At Tuesday's council meeting in Pollensa, a motion was passed urging the Balearic Parliament to amend the government's administrative simplification law and so allow properties that could be legalised under the law to retain holiday rental licences, if these properties have such licences.
The motion was presented by the opposition parties - Tots-El Pi, the Partido Popular and the Unió Mollera Pollencina - and received the support of PSOE, the party of the mayor, Martí March. Més, who govern the town hall with PSOE, voted against the motion.
March said that the government and the Council of Mallorca should approve, through dialogue and consensus, regulation for holiday rentals, the number of accommodation places and criteria for quality and legality.
Ex-mayor, Tomeu Cifre of Tots, pointed out that properties which are currently deemed illegal have long had licences. He added: "We have always supported the fight against illegal holiday rentals and the creation of specific regulations to resolve this problem, only that definitely affects Pollensa."
The properties the motion refers to are on so-called rustic land. Most of them are years old and don't appear in the municipal register as legal properties. This never prevented applications for and the granting of holiday rental licences; town halls have never had responsibility for these licences.
Under the administrative simplification law, it will be possible to remove many of these properties from a situation of legal limbo and make them legal. If they are in special areas of protection, it won't be possible. There are properties like this all over Mallorca. But in Pollensa, many of them contribute to a local tourism economy that has historically always had more holiday rental accommodation places than hotel places. For a coastal municipality, Pollensa is unusual in this respect.
The government's quid pro quo for enabling legalisation is the withdrawal of holiday rental licences. It was urged to take this stance by the opposition PSOE. Mayor March has therefore found himself in an awkward position - defending the continuation of licences while his party is against this.
* On Wednesday the government said that it would accept the proposed amendment.
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