Llano: "We are against raising the ecotax since there will be more intrusion"

Interview by Periódico de Ibiza and Formentera with the President of AVAT, José Antonio Llano.

SOURCE: PERIÓDICO DE IBIZA Y FORMENTERA, 6 OCTOBER 2024

José Antonio Llano, president of the Association of Tourist Homes of Ibiza and Formentera (AVAT), points out that they are experiencing a "critical" moment and regrets that citizens hold the vacation rental sector responsible for the current tourist saturation.
«We are against the increase in the 'ecotax' because it will create more intrusion in Ibiza»

Vanessa Hernandez
José Antonio Llano (Barcelona, ​​1973) has been at the head of the Association of Tourist Housing of Ibiza and Formentera (AVAT) for almost a year, although he was already president between 2018 and 2022. During all these years, he indicates, he has witnessed of the increase in illegal tourism on the island, currently surpassing the regulated one in Ibiza. An intrusion that AVAT tries to combat by supporting the Consell d'Eiviisa and requesting greater control and surveillance of the supply of multi-family housing; illegal tourist flats. That is why José Antonio Llano considers that one of the measures to mitigate this illegal offer would be to lift the moratorium on the granting of tourist places that prevents single-family houses from having a tourist license.

—The tourist season has come to an end. What would be the balance of the summer for the vacation rental sector in Ibiza?
It has been a strange season, as all agents in the tourism sector say, in general. Nor can we say that it has been a bad season, but rather that it has been different from what we experienced in 2022 and 2023, which were exceptional years. In part we believe that it is logical because the situation is normalizing, but it is true that during these post-pandemic years everyone came out in a rush and the results were spectacular. But, as I said, this year has not been bad for our sector. What we have detected on the island is an increase in illegal supply both in multi-family homes, where it is not allowed in Ibiza, and in illegal or illegal single-family homes, since they do not have a tourist license and cannot obtain one due to the moratorium on the granting of permits. However, despite this, these irregular places are being marketed in Ibiza.

—Would you say that the illegal tourist offer currently exceeds the regulated one in Ibiza?
Of course, according to the latest data we have seen from Iberostar, both in July and August the supply of non-regulated tourist housing has exceeded the regulated supply for the first time. This leads us to think, based on this data, that many illegal or illegal places are sold in Ibiza.

—Do you know the number of illegal tourist places in Ibiza?
Not because it is difficult to quantify and very complicated to know how many illegal places there are, but they do exist. We are aware that right now the message that society and experts are sending is not to increase the places in Ibiza to seek a decrease in tourism, but, of course, the illegal ones are still there. That is why we, without wanting to increase the spaces, want to convert the illegal or illegal single-family homes into homes that could comply with the regulations with regulated spaces, which are easier to control and supervise by the Consell d'Eivissa.

—The fight against illegal tourist rentals has been greatly intensified in Ibiza and, despite this, you say that this offer exceeds the currently regulated ones. Do you think more tools are needed to fight against intrusion in the sector?
Yes, there is a lot of fighting against the illegal offer by the Consell d'Eivissa, a fight that we take advantage of and support. Now it is more directed and aimed at controlling multi-family homes, which are tourist apartments, which in no case can be licensed on the island and are the ones that really affect us due to the illegal competition they represent and, in addition, they also cause a lack of accommodation on the island. Without a doubt, this intrusion is one of the most important problems we have when it comes to accessing decent housing.

—How many legalized single-family places are there in Ibiza?
There has always been talk of about 20,000 legalized places. What happens is that in the last meetings we have had with the Consell we were told that they had been reduced to 19,500 places, and now it seems that they have dropped again to 18,500. We calculate that of these 18,500, which are the ones that the Consell has registered, there is a percentage that is around 15% of places that are not being marketed because they are homes that were once on the tourist market, but now have returned to residential rental. There are also other owners who have stopped renting their homes for tourists. Therefore, there are many fewer places of which we are accused. Without going any further, of the 100,000 on the island, 80,000 are hotel beds and ours, which were supposed to be 20,000, have gone down.

—In this sense, the 'Canviem El Rumb' platform recently mobilized on the island to denounce tourist saturation and request, among other measures, that tourist homes in Ibiza be converted into residential ones.
I know, and we are also aware that we are accused of all these evils, but the truth is that this problem of tourist overcrowding that is perceived on the island is due to illegal supply, uncontrolled supply. These homes are there and are rented, whether we like it or not, because despite fighting against this offer it is very difficult to solve the problem.

—Some of the citizens also hold you responsible for the housing shortage or the saturation that the island suffers.
Yes, and it shouldn't be that way because we really offer a regulated offer that focuses on single-family homes. Furthermore, it is an offer that is in high demand on the island, and has always been, especially when we talk about family tourism because this type of accommodation often chooses this type of accommodation to be with their family and for very long stays. So I think that people sometimes, because it is so complicated, do not distinguish between a regulated or illegal tourist home, or if the same owner is the one who is living in it.

«It is better that there are more regulated tourist places than the continuous increase in illegal supply in Ibiza»

—At AVAT you also defend how these vacation rental places generate a great economic impact.
We have always said it, our offer is a way to diversify the wealth generated by tourism. So instead of concentrating on five, six, seven or eight hoteliers or businessmen on the island, it is distributed, and more so on this island. Regarding the economic impact on the majority of these homes, it cannot be quantified as a percentage because the homes are owned by small owners who have a house and rent it. What the tenants of these tourist homes do generate is spending on the island because they rent cars, increase sales in the restaurant sector, among other expenses. In this way, wealth is diversified because, in addition, the tourists on the vacation offer are clients with a medium-high purchasing power. There are also tourists from all social classes, but they tend to spend a lot.

—What would be the average stay of these tourists?
It is true that the type of client affects you because sometimes they are groups of friends who come to party and opt for shorter stays. What we see is that families, for example, rent homes for a week or two weeks, there are even people who come for three weeks to be with their family and enjoy very long stays.

—The measures announced by the Government regarding the increase in the ecotax have generated a lot of discomfort among employers in the Balearic Islands. What assessment do you make about this as president of AVAT?
We are totally against the increase. Firstly, because we want the sustainable tourism tax to be applied to all visitors to the Islands and not only to those who stay in the regulated offer. I go to a hotel or a regulated tourist home and pay a tourist tax, but I go to a friend's house or an illegal home and I pay nothing. It is totally ridiculous and they are measures that are aimed at disfavoring equality. What has to be done, on the one hand, is to pursue intrusion and, on the other, try to implement measures so that everyone who enters the island pays this tax.

—Do you think that this measure can somewhat mitigate the tourist saturation that the island suffers?
Not at all, what will favor is intrusion. You are increasing the price of a tax on a client who will stop staying in the regulated offer and will do so in the illegal offer because they will not pay this tax. Furthermore, we believe that this Balearic Government has lost the opportunity to decree that the tax collected in Ibiza stays on the island, a request that we have been making from here for a long time. We do not want what is collected here to go to Mallorca and for us to depend on others to decide how these taxes are used. There were a thousand ways to act to ensure that the proceeds stayed here with various executable projects, but then they would be used for purposes that one does not understand, when this tax should be allocated to sustainable tourism.

—Do you consider that the Balearic Islands Tourism Law exceeds its limits in the regulation of vacation rentals?
What happens is due to changes in government. We have seen it now with the announcement of a series of measures by the Balearic Government modifying the legislation of the previous Government. In relation to the regulation of vacation rentals, we do not want there to be total impunity or absolute freedom in this sense and for there to be infinite growth because we are islands and have a limited capacity, but we do believe that the issue of the moratorium on the granting of places should be modified because, with this moratorium in place, it is impossible for the illegal offer to become regulated. I know that no one wants to see growth in tourist places, but without the possibility of this being carried out, this illegal offer will continue to exist because it is very difficult to combat it, since they do not know how they should try to attract these owners of single-family homes in the case of Ibiza so that they comply with regulations and legality and, in this way, move to the regulated offer. At this time it is not possible and a solution to this problem would have to be found.

—From AVAT, what solutions are proposed to this problem?
From the association we are very clear about it. We are against illegal offers, especially in tourist apartments as a first emergency, and we support all institutions against intrusion and against this type of housing that ultimately limits residential housing. But we have also raised, as I told you, the problems that single-family homes suffer due to the tourism moratorium, since there are many accommodations that could become legal. However, we understand that today it is very difficult for a politician to announce the increase in positions on the island that society so rejects. What is clear is that we have a problem of illegal single-family housing that could become regulated housing in some way. In the end, the illegal offer is unfair competition and marketing agencies cannot fight against that. Therefore, it is better that there are more regulated places than that illegal places continue to exist. With legality, administrations can know who the owner is, if he has insurance, where to find it and what he offers. On the other hand, if the offer is illegal, they know nothing.

—The other announcement by Balearic President Prohens about the prohibition of new licenses for vacation rentals in multi-family homes does not affect Ibiza because tourist rentals in apartments are prohibited in Ibiza. Is there any news on rental zoning on the island?
No, we are waiting. It was not approved at the time by the Consell d'Eivissa and we are awaiting the PIAT, which is an Intervention Plan in Tourism Areas that delimits those areas suitable for carrying out tourist marketing. The Consell has announced that it has a company that is going to be in charge of its development with the aim of consulting business sectors in Ibiza, but it has not yet been carried out. However, we see how there is a lot of talk about PIAT and we know that this plan will take three or four years to be effective. These solutions do not come immediately, but rather you have to wait. It is true that the PIAT will clarify or shed light on where we want to go as a tourist island.

—The sector also denounced the problems arising from the Government's urban planning amnesty because when unplanned housing is legalized, they lose their tourist license.
Exactly, it was said that this amnesty, which was developed in the administrative simplification decree law, conditioned the tourist license of the home if it requested to legalize a part of the home. That is why we opposed it, since we find the measure a bit incongruous because this amnesty means that someone could lose a license or that an owner may not want to legalize part of his home for fear of losing his tourist permit. It does not mean that we are defending the illegality that was committed at the time, but we do defend that an accommodation that in the past, for example, made an extension to its house does not have to lose the tourist license already granted. They are different things. Fortunately there was a lot of pressure in Mallorca and we understand that this is going to change.

—In a short time the Congress of Tourist Vacation Homes on the island will be held.
Yes, every year we celebrate our Tourist Housing Congress. This year is the tenth anniversary and a single day will be held with two round tables in the morning and two in the afternoon. In the first Roundtable we will talk about the tourism future of the island of Ibiza and we will sit down with different representatives from other sectors to discuss how we see the island in 10 years and what solutions or what demands each sector would have. In the second Table we will talk about sustainability in vacation housing. In this intervention, we will place special emphasis on the scarcity of water in Ibiza. The manager of Abaqua, Emeterio Moles, will be there, who will be able to talk about the water problem and the solutions, in addition to the current situation of the next desalination plant in Ibiza.

—And in the afternoon what participating round tables will be held?
In the afternoon we will talk about digital marketing and artificial intelligence. And the last table will discuss what Tourism Law for vacation homes we want. Mariano Juan will also be present as vice president of the Consell d'Eivissa, some representatives of the Balearic Government and members who will talk about all the modifications that are foreseen in the Tourism Law of the Balearic Islands and how they may affect them. We will also talk about the PIAT and the administrative simplification decree. We want this year this congress to focus on an Ibizan key.

—I don't know if you can advance the main points that will be addressed at the table about the Ibiza of 10 years from now.
I will save this for the congress because there is a lot to debate, since we are at a very critical moment for the association due to all these attacks against saturation and the increase in tourist places. We are beginning to perceive an attack on our sector, on the regulated tourist places. There are entities that advocate also eliminating the regulated supply, therefore, we are living in a critical moment and we all have to be united in the association to fight for the interests of this sector that contributes a lot to the Ibizan economy. A sector that has a great demand and that, no matter how much this supply disappears, this tourist demand will not disappear. In addition, I also believe that a lot of rejection is being created against parties in homes and I think it is important to know how to differentiate between an illegal party in which an entrance fee is charged, and there is an economic activity, and a party with friends at home. Furthermore, in most cases the owner is not aware of these celebrations. Another thing would be if the owner participated or did not report the facts.

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