Some interesting views here - and some absurd ones, in particular this: "the result if effective will be devestating to many, and of all the knock on effects to agents, cleaners, community funds, energy companies etc etc people will not travel to Spain but go to other more financially accesible places"
The same poster (in the same post) then sort of contradicts him/herself:
"Spain is a stupid ignorant country and getting worse by the day if it wasnt for the weather no one would go really"
Exactly. Until the govt. screws up the weather, people will of course keep holidaying in Spain as they have done for the past 50+ years - what do tourists know/care of Spanish govt. regulations? Ultimately the weather is the ONLY reason any of us live or buy property in Spain (if you wish to disgree and spout on about the culture/people/food etc., do it on another thread - fact is, if Spain had, say, Poland's climate, it would be no different from, say, Poland - which also has great culture, food, people etc but doesn't have millions of expat property owners).
Back to the main point though, I'm slightly in two minds about the issue. On the one hand I'm slightly baffled why such legislation wasn't put into force long ago, as I'm sure it exists (and is enforced) in most civilized countries already. After so many years of mass tourism, it seems a bit of a case of locking the stable door after the horse has bolted. I agree with whoever mentioned that those up in arms about it are almost certainly those who are renting without declaring the income or providing any semblance of a professional service to their clients. As someone who previously has owned and run a tourist accommodation business here, correctly licenced etc., I wonder why anyone thinks that they should have a basic right to do whatever they want with their property for profit. Any more than any old car owner should be entitled to rent their car out for profit to holiday makers with no legal form of regulation. That would be madness. Business is business, and should be treated as such. Renting your property out is a business. (Having said that, I also believe that over-regulation will stifle development) From a property owners' point of view, living in a community where an absentee landlord is free to advertise his apartment privately on the internet and take NO responsibility for his tennants' bad behaviour affecting other neighbours, I welcome the suggestion that any licence would require a 24 hour contact in place. And as a consumer, it surely makes sense too for anyone forking out their hard-earned, to have some kind of protection.
But on the other hand, I can't help agreeing with my friend: "As usual Spain is shooting itself in the foot!" The timing of this hitting the news is as cack-handed as it could possibly be. At a time when the property "market" is competely, utterly, screwed up, ANYTHING that could be deemed by a predatory press as a negative should surely be postponed until a more appropriate time? But then, we are talking about a government that thinks raising transfer tax will help boost their coffers!