- In view of the significant increase in recent years in tourist housing rentals and in response to the "housing emergency", the Bizilagun platform has made a reading and proposals on the situation based on a report by Hiriko Harira.
The turistification process and the expansion of the tourist rental platforms of San Sebastian has brought the concern of many social agents, as well as the clash between those who do business in this area. Effect Airbnb following the Hiritik Harira Platform pandemic with neighbors. The report on the case of San Sebastian under study (pdf) has served as a starting point for reading and presenting various proposals on the road to tourist decline.
The report contains clarifications. For example, in the evolution of the number of ads offered on the Airbnb platform, it is noted that they have returned to the 2019 level following the pandemic, which has increased by nearly 16% since last year.
However, rental prices have not declined during the pandemic and have continued to increase steadily. According to the study, between 2017 and 2022 the price of renting family homes has increased by 23.26% and that of rooms and entire homes offered by Airbnb has increased by 60.72% and 57.17% respectively. That is, the latter have grown 2.5 times more and have become an important business niche.
Influence of Turistification
"We live in an emergency in housing," explains the Bizilagun platform in the note of announcing the proposals: "Housing should not be understood in the dynamics of private property, but in the satisfaction of the basic needs of citizens," they say. However, turistification is having a great impact on the housing market and many of them are doing business for speculation, they warn.
The platform with the neighbors considers it essential to limit the rent price in the event of this emergency and "a strategic direction must be taken for tourist growth".
They criticize the attitude of public institutions towards tourist weights. In the public debate that has been going on for a few years, what they initially deny the problem and now deny it because it is "opportunity and capacity" to solve it.
The platform with neighbors considers it essential to limit the rent price in the event of a housing emergency
Restrictive licensing and compensation
Some urgent measures are listed, such as overcoming zonal logic. The conditions for the implementation of tourist weights in San Sebastian are different in some neighborhoods or others, but the Bizilagun platform does not make sense because the turistification "affects the whole city". Other measures may include limiting the concentration of ownership or prohibiting the activity of companies managing tourist weights.
Among the proposals to "limit, reduce and eliminate the apartments for rent in the short term from the city", has been taken as an example the "compensatory measure" that is about to be implemented in the Northern Basque Country, where the owner has to put another house for rent year-round. In addition, another proposal is to "establish a restrictive and transitional licence", which would reduce the number of rental days of the dwelling annually until it is exhausted.
"These concrete proposals are put on the table so that we can influence the debate on this issue and encourage everyone to come into force," they finally explain.