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tourism strain continues workers homelessness

Homelessness continues to strain tourism workers
#1
Noticias:

Homelessness continues to strain tourism workers.

The holiday rental continues to pose a lot of pressure to the accommodation plant of Fuerteventura and tourist areas of the Canary Islands



The housing situation in Fuerteventura, especially in tourist areas and the capital, does not stop stressing and somehow affects the island's labor market. The logic is overwhelming, "if there is no housing for workers, it no longer makes sense to work in hospitality."



The mixture of low salaries with lack of supply or crazy offer for the holiday becomes a deadly cocktail for the normal development of majorera society.



An impoverished society



Although the Canary Islands managed to be in 2021 the second autonomous community with the highest growth of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in terms of volume, the data reflect that the wealth generated in the islands is not distributed.



The figures of the GDP per capita of the Canary Islands show a constant downward trend, so much so that if compared with the data of 2000 the islands are the ones that have lost the greatest wealth per inhabitant in the last 20 years.



In 2021, the islands recorded the second worst per capita rate in the state. While the Spanish average stood at 25,498 euros per inhabitant and that of the European Union at 32,430 euros, that of the Canary Islands remained at 18,990.



They warn of a collapse



This phenomenon is generic in all the islands, and more in the tourist areas, "The cost of rents in the south of Tenerife threatens to collapse tourism," warns Manuel Fitas, general secretary of Sindicalistas de Base, the majority organization in the hospitality sector.



Base trade unionists consider the situation "unsustainable" because of the "impossibility" of accessing an apartment to live in. In statements to Diario De Avisos Fitas warns about the "eviction" of workers from tourist areas and the increase in rents "above the highway and in mid-sized neighborhoods, where prices do not fall below 800 euros. " A factor that, he says, distances professionals from their workplaces, a situation that further complicates split shifts in the sector. "How are they going to come to work in a hotel restaurant, with breakfast shift (from 8.00 a.m. to 12.00 p.m.) and dinner (from 18.00 p.m. to 22.00 p.m.), so far from their residence and with the collapse of traffic that exists?" he asks.



The hotel employers, Ashotel, blames the problem, above all, on three factors: the lack of public flats, vulture funds (which have withdrawn offer from the market to speculate with it) and the phenomenon of holiday housing. On this last point, the hoteliers reiterate that this modality was conceived not as a tourist business, but residential and that the land destined for hotels and apartments is planned exclusively for such use and subject to mandatory regulations.



Approaches from politics



The new Minister of Tourism, Jessica de León (PP), announced on the day of her inauguration, on July 15, that one of her priorities will be to "rattle the cat" of holiday rentals, that is, regulate a booming tourist activity that stresses the housing market and affects the provision of public services.



On the same day of being invested as president of the Government of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo expressed his intention to "set a limit of places" for holiday rentals and gave as an example the regulation of the number of tourist beds established by the territorial tourist plan of Tenerife. From the head of the regional Executive it is recalled that the General Plan of any city defines the number of tourist and residential beds, and both must be in agreement.



ASCAV ASSOCIATION



From the Canarian Association of Holiday Homes (Ascav) it is insisted that the rental of a private home to a tourist represents in itself the "free exercise of the right that any person has to rent their property" and recalls that "tourism is the heritage of all, not of a few". The group defends that 100% of the expenditure of those who take advantage of this type of accommodation stays in the Canary Islands, except for the cost of the plane, and underlines the economy generated in supermarkets, restaurants, bars and leisure and car rental companies.



Now, it is up to the Government of the Canary Islands to make a move. At the moment, the cat remains without rattle for too many years, while the housing problem worsens, Statistics indicate that the Canary Islands is in the caboose of the country in salaries and among the communities that are at the forefront of the increase in rents. Two antagonistic data as forceful as worrying.
2 users say Thank You to TamaraEnLaPlaya for this post
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#2
This increases both rental and sale prices. I understand the owners who want to rent their second home though. So what is the middle ground? Confused
1 user says Thank You to G2HJei for this post
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#3
There is a similar issue re housing for hospitality staff in the English Lake District so to address the problem the larger businesses have started buying 10+ bedroomed bed & breakfast's to accommodate their staff or are building staff accommodation blocks in the grounds of their properties, there is no reason why hospitality businesses on Fuerteventura can't do the same.
5 users say Thank You to windermeregolfer for this post
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#4
A good start would be the enforced purchase and completion of the large number of half built flats and buildings in Puerto, Playa Blanca and Corralejo! An easy win imho.
3 users say Thank You to Bill for this post
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#5
We were considering renting our existing property when we buy our forever home on the island, but the laws on tenancy are so harsh on landlords (lease is legally for five years minimum and only the tenant can break this, difficulty in removing non-paying tenants and being expected to pay their utilities, etc) that we will either be selling, or doing holiday lets instead.

Also know of several other people who are doing holiday lets while they have their property up for sale when they'd have preferred to keep it and rent it out, but won't due to fear of problems with long term rentals.

As long as there is no security for landlords, there will be a supply crunch on rental properties.
6 users say Thank You to Ducks for this post
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