The Canary Islands, a beloved winter sun destination for Brits, have passed new legislation that could make it harder to secure accommodation during peak seasons. After a fiery debate last week, the Parliament of the Canary Islands gave the green light to the controversial bill, over two years after its initial announcement.

The Canarian Weekly reports that the legislation has been met with widespread disapproval from holiday let companies and local councils, who are now tasked with implementing these new rules. ASCAV (Asociación Canaria del Alquiler Vacacional), the association representing holiday rental owners across the islands, dubbed it a “black day”, according to Spanish media reports. They cautioned that the changes will predominantly impact small-scale lets, resulting in fewer options for tourists visiting the islands.

The new laws primarily target holiday rentals, with the hotel industry, their main rival, being one of the key supporters of the bill. Holiday rentals will now be categorised as a business, even for smaller ventures such as families renting out their own homes.

There will also be stringent regulations about where tourist rentals can operate. Councils will now have five years to designate areas where holiday lets are permitted and will need to prove that the area can sustain them, reports the Mirror. Until these surveys are carried out, no additional licences can be issued.

There will also be new minimum standards for holiday lets, including a minimum property size and energy rating, and properties must be at least ten years old before they can be rented out.

Councils will now be obligated to reserve 80% of housing for residents, and in major tourist hotspots, a minimum of 90% must be kept for locals. In regions identified as “municipalities facing demographic challenges” due to tourism, new holiday let licence applications will be put on hold, although existing ones will remain valid.

In areas where the 10% allowance has already been reached, licence applications will only be accepted again once the cap is increased.

Despite these changes granting more power to councils on the Canary Islands, critics argue it will result in a “massive workload” for local authorities, placing the responsibility on them to ensure compliance with new health and safety standards. They now have an eight-month window to devise a plan for checking and enforcing the new regulations.

Tourist-rental licences will now last between five to ten years, requiring owners to apply for renewals. In areas with a ‘stressed housing market’, this will pose a greater challenge for the current 70,000 licence holders. These changes come after two years of protests on the Canary Islands and mainland Spain. Despite protesters urging tourists to avoid destinations such as Tenerife, the island still experienced a surge in tourist numbers over the summer.