The letting laws for villas and apartments in Lanzarote and other Canary Islands have been the subject of much debate over the past few years. Many statements have been made by elected presidents of villa and apartment communities intent on stopping holiday rentals in their community in an effort to impose their will on uninformed property owners. They are largely bluffing and bullying. Apart from the right of any citizen to inform the authorities of what they believe to be any infringements of any law (in this case Clause 38 of law 7/1995), they have no legal authority to impose their views and are seeking to exploit the unfortunate legal ignorance of owners. Here are the facts as I understand them.
1. Touristic Sites.
If you own on a Touristic complex (Licensed with the Dept of Tourism) then Canarian Law Clause 38 Section7/1995 is applicable and there must be a sole agency who runs all the letting on the site. This can either be the community itself or an outside agency. Either way the sole agency must have 50% +1 of the properties under its control in order to operate as the sole agency. The site must be licensed by the Dept of Tourism and owners can only rent...