- The Supreme Court has ruled that neighbouring communities will have the power to prohibit the installation of more tourist houses in a building or urbanization, provided that a three-fifths majority is reached. In this way, it has dismissed the resources of several companies in the tourism sector in the Spanish State.
Until now, each provincial court interpreted and freely applied article 17.12 of the Horizontal Property Act. In most cases, the courts ruled that all community owners should agree with the ban on installing more tourist houses, which would alter the ruling of the Supreme, which established a 3/5 majority – both owners and participation quotas.
The judges have analyzed the resources brought by several communities of neighbors and neighbors in the area. In the city of Marbella, for example, neighbors denounced that the clients of a tourist house make a lot of noise, break things or urinate at the door. After the vote 48 of the 51 owners opted for a ban on tourist accommodation, but two companies in the sector brought the case to court.
According to the judges of the Supreme Court, the reality of cities with a high rate of tourism shows that leisure and rest are hardly compatible. They explained that the majority of 3/5 is moderate, as in the other cases – the fact of having to accept the ban unanimously – would not make sense, as it would suffice to revoke the ban by voting against the landlord who intends to allocate the dwelling to tourism.