Can neighbours prevent the opening of tourist homes on their portal?
- The Association of Neighbours of the Old Town of Vitoria-Gasteiz Txiki has proposed the “administrative tool to stop the proliferation of homes for tourist use (SMEs)”: at the meeting of neighbours of the Vitoria-Gasteiz portal it is decided that SMEs are not accepted, is included in their statutes and is presented in the property register. This is what they've already done on a Painter street portal, and neighbors are stopping an SME that was about to open. Considers that the tool also applies to other Basque territories.
Manu Arakama, president of the neighborhood association Gasteiz Txiki, explains to ARGIA that the idea emerged from need. “The recent proliferation of SMEs is overflowing us, for example, in Pokkanale Street we have moved from two to eight SMEs in a short time, and we needed a defense mechanism.” In the opinion of the association, turistification has “devastating” effects on the “social, cultural and economic” life of the neighborhoods (to learn more about the consequences of the turistification and its drivers, here and here we have two in-depth reports)
Easy and fast processing
Arakama explains that this is a “simple” process: “In the meeting of neighbours of the portal, a modification of the statutes must be proposed, specifying that SMEs are not allowed in the portal. The simple majority is sufficient to approve the amendment. Minutes shall be drawn up, the status amended and the documentation shall be presented in the Property Register.” Aware that the smaller ones also claim many bureaucracies and formalities, the member of the neighbourhood association warns: “Everything can be done in a single day and there is no need to resort to a management, it is an easy procedure.”
Community
“It’s not panacea,” warns Arakama. The decision taken administratively can be challenged by an owner in court and “it is to be seen” what would happen then. But even if it is lost in court, the adoption of the measure has two positive effects. On the one hand, “only gathering the neighbors and putting the debate on the table becomes a community, is there talk about the problems of the neighborhood”. On the other hand, “maybe we don’t completely stop reproducing in SMEs, but we’ll get stuck, sure.”
Practical experience
The association of neighbors Gasteiz Txiki has just grown by proposing to the neighbors this path, but it has already been done by the neighbors of a portal in the Margolari association, and Arakama has assured that the result has been positive: “One of the owners who wanted to open an SME was in the process and that process has stopped.”
Common tool
Arakama says that the path proposed by the association is applicable throughout the Basque Country, being the administrative route. Nor is he sure it is the same for Ipar Euskal Herria, because he does not know the reality and conditions of the country. It encourages each other to test, although “it requires little effort and there is nothing to lose.”
Information and advice
The neighbourhood association Gasteiz Txiki has launched an information and advice campaign to neighbours and neighbours, through two ways: to go directly through the premises of the association (c/ Schools, 9) or to write to agasteiztxiki@gmail.com. Arakama is convinced that new problems and needs will emerge along the way, and has explained that the partnership is ready to respond with its neighbours.
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