Spain's Constitutional Court upholds law limiting tourist apartments in Catalonia

• It eliminates perpetual permits and requires their renewal every 5 years

GENEVA

Spain's Constitutional Court on Thursday upheld a law regulating and limiting tourist apartments in Catalonia, rejecting a challenge from the opposition Popular Party (PP).

The court, in a press release, said that the 2023 decree passed by the Catalan government "does not violate" constitutional protections for private property, local autonomy, or judicial rights. The law, introduced by the Catalan government in 2023, aims to reduce the number of tourist apartments in areas with housing shortages.

The court said that "the possibility of using a property for tourism is not an essential part of property ownership."

The decree limits the number of tourist rental licenses to 10 per 100 residents and requires a permit for any property used for tourism. It applies to municipalities facing housing difficulties or where there is a high concentration of tourist rentals, according to the ruling.

These municipalities must update their lists as the decree eliminates perpetual permits and requires their renewal every five years.

The court explained that the law is needed to protect urban environments and ensure long-term housing availability. It also clarified that municipalities' autonomy in urban planning is important and said the law respects local decision-making, "guaranteeing local authorities a level of intervention that is tendentially correlated to the intensity of their interests in the matter in question."