Jurídicos y Administrativos

🏠 The Community of Madrid's RESIDE plan, presented yesterday by Mayor José Luis Martínez Almeida, targets the regulation of tourist apartments, dividing the city into two areas: the historic center with higher concentrations and the outer zone. In the historic center, tourist apartments in residential buildings are banned, only allowed in exclusive blocks, with a temporary 15-year change linked to building restoration. The outer zone permits tourist apartments with current conditions, requiring independent access. Madrid's city council anticipates the plan's implementation in August 2025 after public information phases and approval, complementing a transitory plan suspending new licenses and intensifying penalties for illegal offerings.

🏨 Michey Barreto, 43, claimed room 2565 at the New Yorker Hotel in 2018 under a New York City rental law. He attempted to transfer hotel ownership, owned by the Unification Church, to his name and even charged guests. In February, Barreto faced 24 criminal charges, including fraud. Initially avoiding jail for psychiatric assessment, his trial is delayed. His lawyer cited drug-related health issues as a barrier to hospital treatment, which may help Barreto avoid prison time.

🏨 Spanish hoteliers, via CEHAT and with Hotrec's collaboration, are crafting a legal strategy to combat Booking.com in court over expected damage claims. This follows a historic fine by the CNMC last summer for Booking's use of now-illegal parity clauses. CEHAT promotes "no win, no fee" claims to minimize financial risk, ensuring legal security for hoteliers. Coordination with European legal initiatives, drawing on German lawyers' experience since 2012, is a strategic component. Claims stem from Booking’s practices, including English-only legal value in contracts, Dutch law application, and lack of transparency in its Preferred, Preferred Plus, and Genius programs.

🏠 Madrid's City Council to implement Plan Reside in August 2025, replacing the 2019 Hospitality Plan, to regulate tourist apartments and protect residential use, amid central population loss. Only 7% of 16,100 tourist flats are legal. Boeing to cut 10% of its workforce, sending layoff notices to 17,000 employees due to financial woes and competition with Airbus, following supply chain issues and a recent Seattle strike. Riu Hotels' generational transition underway with Luis and Roberto Riu Rodríguez at the helm, aiming for a smooth shift.

✈ Aeroflot's Airbus A320 stranded in Munich since February 27, 2023, due to airspace closure after Ukraine war outbreak. By June, parking fees reached €460,000. The plane, owned by China's CMB and leased to Aeroflot, later flew to Prague for potential re-leasing. Daily parking cost between €340-€560.

🏠 Madrid's Ayuntamiento, led by Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida, introduced the Plan RESIDE to protect residential areas and replace the 2019 Plan de Hospedaje. Key points include banning tourist apartments in residential buildings in the historic center, bounded by Avenida de la Reina Victoria and Plaza de Legazpi, and allowing them only in dedicated buildings. Incentives will be provided to convert commercial properties into affordable rental housing, with 210 eligible buildings in the center. The plan is expected to be effective by August 2025, following public consultation and approval. Since April, licenses for new tourist apartments have been frozen, and illegal operators face fines up to €100,001, with a 15% increase in inspectors to enforce the rules.

🛩 Ex-vice president Nadia Calviño, now President of the European Investment Bank, distanced herself from Air Europa's rescue operation when she learned the airline's owners distributed €35 million in dividends before seeking a €475 million public bailout. Calviño warned Ábalos's advisor of "a very relevant problem" regarding the dividends, yet she didn't halt the rescue. The operation, involving Sánchez, Ábalos, and others, was approved rapidly despite her reservations. Chats involving Calviño may cause issues if judicial investigations proceed.

🏠 CEHAT advocates for leveling the playing field in tourism by imposing VAT on tourist rentals and other fiscal and labor measures. The organization, representing 450,000 tourist apartment (AT) spots in Spain, distinguishes ATs from unregulated short time rentals (STRs) or vacation housing, stressing that ATs, along with aparthotels, are regulated and have paid VAT like hotels and hostels. They warn against confusing the types and oppose unjustified VAT increases on regulated accommodations. The EU allows reduced VAT rates to boost the sector's competitiveness, social benefits, and employment. Examples include France's VAT cut leading to 30,000 new jobs in under a year, and Germany's cut from 19% to 7%, creating 46,683 jobs, a 18.5% employment rise from 2016 to 2022. CEHAT urges that current VAT rates be maintained and applied to all tourist activities not currently taxed.

💸 Volotea faces a 423 million euros equity hole in 2023, up from 316 million in 2022 and 159.9 million in 2021. The airline suffered five years of consecutive losses, with a negative balance of 97.5 million in 2023, 134 million in 2022, and 74.9 million in 2021. Despite doubling sales from 302 million in 2021 to 694 million in 2023, EBITDA remains negative: -35.9 million in 2023. Volotea postponed a 36.2 million euro payment to SEPI and banks, with repayment deadlines set for 2029 and 2028, respectively.

🛫 Spanish travel agencies expect a new moratorium on the registry of reservations, set to start on December 2, amid protests and a non-binding resolution by the Congress urging the government to postpone the enactment of the regulatory law. This regulation, established by Royal Decree 933/2021, mandates that agencies report lodging and vehicle rental details for each reservation, which has drawn heavy criticism for data privacy concerns and administrative burdens. Industry associations like CEAV and FECLAV highlight the potential competitive losses and customer distrust, with fears of ending up in court. The issue of understaffed inspections to combat industry intrusions was raised, with regions like Galicia and Andalusia facing challenges. Concerns also arose over the intrusion by the government itself, as described by Jerónimo Fernández of FECLAV.