The authorities have classified the offence as serious under the Balearic Islands’ Town Planning Act, reports Idealista. The legislation provides for a fine of between 50 per cent and 100 per cent of the property’s value if its intended use has been altered without authorisation. In this case, the authorities established that a residential property was being used for tourist purposes without the appropriate authorisation and imposed a fine amounting to 75 per cent of its value.
The decision was taken by the Ibiza Local Council, which rejected the owner’s appeals. Following confirmation of the fine, the councillor for town planning, Juan Flores, stated that the authorities would crack down hard on the use of property for tourist accommodation without authorisation. According to him, illegal tourist rentals make it harder to access housing, disrupt the lives of local residents and create unfair competition for legally operating establishments.
This is not the only case in the Balearic Islands where a fine for illegal holiday rentals has run into hundreds of thousands of euros. In Mallorca, the authorities fined the owner of a building in Palma €800,000. Ten flats in the building were being used exclusively to accommodate tourists, so the fine amounted to €80,000 per flat.
At the same time, the Mallorcan authorities have secured the removal of advertisements for these flats from digital platforms where they were being offered to tourists. The local administration expects that the combination of heavy fines and the removal of illegal listings will act as a stronger deterrent and reduce the number of properties operating without the necessary permits.
It should be noted that the Balearic authorities have been stepping up their monitoring of illegal tourist rentals in recent years. Particular attention is being paid to properties used for short-term accommodation without a licence or in breach of property usage regulations.
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