New rules for tourist lets
All advertising will be required to include the property’s registration number
All advertising will be required to include the property’s registration number
A NEW decree regulating tourist accommodation in the Valencia region has been approved.
It brings together all the decrees for each specific type of accommodation in a single text, explained the regional government.
One of the most significant aspects is that it makes it illegal to offer tourist lets of single rooms in homes.
The decree’s purpose is to regulate the activities and services, forms, classifications and working practices of establishments according to Law 15/2018 on tourism, leisure and hospitality.
Another aim was to adapt the legislation to new social, professional, technological and regulatory contexts.
It was drawn up with business organisations in the sector and chambers of commerce, who the regional government said reached an ‘ample consensus’ over the final draft. Its approval was delayed by the pandemic last year but work on it restarted after the summer season.
By collecting everything in one regulation, it is easier
for users and agents to find the section that is applicable, from when a business is being started to when it closes.
It also establishes rules for applicable prices and introduces the need to have civil liability insurance.
New forms of accommodation to be added are the ‘albergue
turístico’ (usually like hostels with shared dormitories), which can be rural or urban – and ‘hotel-balneario’ (spa-hotel).
Tourist lodgings are required to follow the principles of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism (GCET) and the adaptation of this to the Valencian code of ethics for tourism, emphasising hospitality as the basic principle. Special consideration has been paid to compliance with the regional disabled access law.
Regarding online advertising, more information will have to be provided, and the role of tourist accommodation management companies to act as mediators has been reinforced, requiring them to keep the name of the owner up to date in the registry.
All advertising will be required to include the property’s registration number, which will be particularly closely monitored online, and the owners of channels for publicity or marketing will be held jointly responsible.
Another new element is to set a period of one year to provide the ‘Catastral’ land registry reference of the property, so that the census of tourist accommodation can be updated by removing those which are no longer being rented out and have specific addresses for those which are.
Other additions include the requirement for all tourist accommodation-related business with interested people or organisations to be carried out via electronic means.
The decree also establishes that in rural houses with shared accommodation, the users must have access to all the common areas.