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 properties in what they are calling ‘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 property costs, exceeds 30 per cent of the average income or where the rent has risen by 5 per cent above the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

This new law has redefined 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 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 ‘agreement between parties’ contrary to the housing agreement. They have included tax benefits that will help offset these extra 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 included new measures to protect against evictions.

THE European Union (EU) has issued a stern warning to Spain over a controversial environmental law that seeks to legalise irrigation in thousands of hectares of land around Doñana National Park, one of the most important wetlands in Europe.

Virginijus Sinkevičius, the European Commissioner for Environment, wrote a letter on Thursday, April 20, expressing his concerns about the proposed law and threatened to take legal action if it violates environmental legislation.

The EU has already requested clarification from the Spanish government about the law change, but no formal response has been given yet.

According to technical estimates by the European Parliament, the fine for noncompliance could be as much as €300m. Spain has previously faced environmental fines in the Basque Country.

Doñana in southern An­

REYES MAROTO has caused controversy 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 BRAND ­ NEW study by Electomanía, a leading Spanish polling company, has revealed the Region of Murcia is the most ‘hated’ autonomous community in Spain.

dalucia has been suffering from water shortages due to the expansion of irrigated agriculture in surrounding areas. A local ecological research centre, reports that 59 per cent of the major lagoons in Doñana have not been filled with water since 2013.

The situation has been attributed to the increase in irrigated land, which has expanded by 30 per cent in the last decade.