- Groups EH Bildu, PSN, Geroa Bai and Zurekin have agreed a bill to prevent further licensing of tourist housing in the Old Town of Pamplona. The agreement focuses on a “preventive” “urban change” based on three objectives: maintaining the neighborhood’s life model, defending the commercial network and enhancing sustainable tourism.
"The City Hall must anticipate the problem that the proliferation of tourist apartments representative of a sustainable housing can cause the expulsion of the population from the neighborhood," the parties explained. Casco Viejo currently has 186 tourist houses, 2.8% of the homes of the neighborhood and more than 55% of the tourist homes of Pamplona, with a total of 337. In five years, 90 applications have been opened and 21 applications have been made, as reported by the Basque Department of the Interior.
The City of Pamplona will promote “sustainable tourism” in the face of the “excessive” number of tourist houses and will try to mitigate the “negative effect” that this type of housing has on the neighborhood, such as the increase in housing prices, the loss of identity of the historic district and the aggravation of the difficulties of traditional and local commerce. "Commerce specializes and adapts to provide services to tourists, resulting in price increases and an increase in hours. As a result, the supply is lower for the needs of the sustainable population", explained the municipal groups.
If the forecasts are met, the bill will be adopted before the end of the year. The change will not affect hotels, pensions or hostels.