10 EWN 27 April - 3 May 2023
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New Housing Law 2023 THE Spanish government proposed a new housing law in February 2022. This new law, which is the first of its kind, has finally been agreed upon and is pending approval from the Spanish Parliament. It focuses on rental proper ties in what they are call ing ‘stressed areas’. A ‘stressed area’ under the new law is an area where the cost of the mortgage or rent, plus bills and other basic prop erty costs, exceeds 30 per cent of the average in come or where the rent has risen by 5 per cent above the Consumer Price Index (CPI). This new law has rede fined what a large and small landowner is. A large landowner is now someone who owns five properties or more, it used to be 10. A small landowner owns less than five properties. The most controversial part of this new law is the fact that
NEW LAW: Focuses on rental properties.
the tenant will no longer pay the real estate fees. To ensure there are no loopholes in this new law they have prohibited the inclusion of extra charges (community fee, garbage removal, etc) and you cannot come to an ‘agree ment between parties’ contrary to the housing agreement. They have in cluded tax benefits that will help offset these ex tra costs for the owners. Another big change is the elimination of the CPI when calculating the cost of the rent, it is capped
and cannot increase by more than 2 per cent in 2023 and 3 per cent in 2024. They have also in cluded new measures to protect against evictions.
950,000 metric tons of sunflowers are grown in Spain.
THE European Union (EU) has issued a stern warning to Spain over a controversial en vironmental law that seeks to legalise irrigation in thou sands of hectares of land around Doñana National Park, one of the most impor tant wetlands in Europe. Virginijus Sinkevičius, the European Commissioner for Environment, wrote a letter on Thursday, April 20, ex pressing his concerns about the proposed law and threat ened to take legal action if it violates environmental legis lation.
In deep water The EU has already re quested clarification from the Spanish government about the law change, but no for mal response has been given yet. According to technical esti mates by the European Par liament, the fine for non compliance could be as much as €300m. Spain has previ ously faced environmental fines in the Basque Country. Doñana in southern An
REYES MAROTO has caused controver sy by suggesting introducing a tourist tax to Madrid, something that local hoteliers are already getting steamed up about, according to a news source on Monday, April 17. For five years, Maroto was in charge of Spain’s tourism. Now she is standing for mayor of Madrid, which every year attracts millions of visitors, including lots of British holidaymakers. A tourist tax was first proposed for Madrid in 2015 and 2018 but was never implemented. “The most important thing is to know why,” Maroto said. Speaking during a breakfast meeting Betty Henderson A BRANDNEW study by Electomanía, a leading Spanish polling compa ny, has revealed the Re gion of Murcia is the most ‘hated’ au tonomous community in Spain.
NEWS
dalucia has been suffering from water shortages due to the expansion of irrigated agriculture in surrounding ar eas. A local ecological re search centre, reports that 59 per cent of the major lagoons in Doñana have not been filled with water since 2013. The situation has been at tributed to the increase in ir rigated land, which has ex panded by 30 per cent in the last decade.
Tax controversy in Madrid, the ExMinister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism said she liked the idea of introducing a tourist tax, which visitors to the city would have to pay per night, but added, “The tourist tax does not have to be merely a tax, it has to be a tax that reverts to the tourism industry.” On hearing her comments the Madrid Hotel Business Association (MHBA) made clear its opposition to the idea without any hesitation, claiming that it would have a detrimental effect on the hotel sector and visitors.
Cold shoulder The study, released on Thursday, April 20, sur veyed 1,620 people across the country and asked them about their ‘spontaneous feelings’
towards their own au tonomous community and the others. According to the re sults, Asturias is the most valued region in Spain, followed by Gali cia, the Basque Country, and Navarra. But the re gion of Murcia ranks at the bottom, with a score of only 6.2, even lower than the north African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. The study also shows a clear divide between the north and south, with voters in northern re gions consistently giving the worst ratings to Mur cia, while southern re gions ranked Murcia much higher. The findings have caused quite a stir. Some have suggested it may be due to a lack of aware ness or understanding about the region, while others speculate it may be due to its hot climate.
