ASG spokesperson Casimiro Curbelo has announced that the Government of the Canary Islands will approve a decree law between September and December that will adapt the requirements for holiday homes in La Gomera, La Palma, and El Hierro, with a five-year adjustment period.
The spokesperson for the Parliamentary Group Agrupación Socialista Gomera (ASG), Casimiro Curbelo, praised on Thursday the commitment made by the president of the Government of the Canary Islands to approve a decree law, between September and December, that will adapt the requirements for holiday homes to the reality of the Green Islands and grant their owners a five-year period to comply with the new regulations.
Curbelo explained that this commitment will allow for the continued correction of those aspects that could not be resolved during the parliamentary processing of the regulatory law for holiday homes, especially those related to the classification of this type of accommodation as a classified activity and the difficulties that certain requirements may generate in La Gomera, La Palma, and El Hierro.
“The objective must be to have a regulated, sustainable, and feasible activity, without imposing insurmountable legal obstacles while ensuring the legal security of those who have been legitimately developing it for years,” he stated.
The ASG leader indicated that the future decree should establish minimum requirements regarding safety, health, accessibility, and coexistence, adjusted to state and regional regulations, but also to the territorial, urban, and socioeconomic characteristics of the Green Islands. Additionally, the possibility of recognising certain types of holiday homes as harmless will be analysed, a proposal defended by ASG throughout the negotiation.
Curbelo highlighted that the work carried out by his party has allowed for numerous improvements aimed at protecting current holders and facilitating the continuity of the activity. Among them is the effective consolidation of holiday homes in the Green Islands, without the need to submit to the general system provided for in the law, although their holders must prove the submission of the prior communication of classified activity.
A new deadline has also been established, until July 31, 2027, for those who do not yet have that communication to submit it and avoid having currently operating homes fall out of legality.
Another modification promoted by ASG will allow the transfer of the activity through inheritance, legacy, or donation for a period of ten years. Furthermore, certain requirements for new homes have been reduced, making accessibility an option, clarifying the conditions for vehicular access, and eliminating energy efficiency percentages that could require difficult-to-assume investments.
The approved text also maintains the possibility of developing more than one holiday home on the same plot when there are different cadastral references, sets the requirements for normalising activities located in buildings out of order, and allows this type of accommodation to be exercised occasionally during recognised public holidays in the official calendar, for a maximum of 15 days.
Curbelo asserted that these improvements are the result of ASG's negotiating willingness and its ability to bridge positions during a processing marked by confrontation. “In the face of obstacles, we have built bridges. We have been transparent, we have worked with ASCAV, and we have maintained channels of dialogue with the Government and the opposition to seek a majority and viable solution,” he assured.
The parliamentary spokesperson for ASG lamented, however, the time lost since December due to the lack of willingness to reach agreements in the early phases of negotiation. “ASG has not remained inactive. We have proposed meetings, presented alternatives, and provided solutions thinking of the citizens, although too often we have encountered inflexible positions,” he pointed out.
He also announced that they will work with the Agrupación Herreña Independiente to modify the Green Islands Law, eliminate current interpretation problems, and facilitate the development of tourist activity in those municipalities where legal doubts are preventing its authorisation.
“The commitment of the president of the Government of the Canary Islands with ASG allows for the opening of a new stage to achieve a realistic, balanced solution adapted to the role that holiday homes play in the economy of the Green Islands,” Curbelo emphasised.
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