Bankia Signs Property Developer Loans Worth €450M in 2018

2 January 2019 – Eje Prime

Bankia is consolidating its return to the property development sector. The bank signed loans worth €450 million for the construction of homes during 2018, its first year back in the real estate business after the restrictions imposed by the European Commission, as a condition for saving the company from bankruptcy, came to an end.

During the year that just ended, Bankia signed several financing operations with real estate developers to construct 2,200 homes in total in Madrid, Cataluña, the Community of Valencia, Andalucía and the Balearic Islands. With these figures, the bank doubled the expectations that it had set itself when it re-launched in the real estate sector, according to reports from the entity in a statement.

Following the results of the first year, the entity chaired by José Ignacio Goiriogolzarri says that it is carrying out its activity “in accordance with the new standards of prudence in the real estate sector, which includes a requirement for adequate marketing stages and the comprehensive control of the development of projects”.

The €450 million financed in 2018 forms part of Bankia’s strategy to try to re-conquer the property developer sector and achieve a market share of 8% by 2020.

Bankia was rescued in 2012 with public aid and sanctioned by Brussels to refrain from participating in the real estate market for five years as a condition for receiving some of the capital that was used to rescue it from financial crisis.

Original story: Eje Prime

Translation: Carmel Drake

Record Fines For Airbnb & HomeAway in Barcelona

25 November 2016 – Expansión

Airbnb and HomeAway are going to be fined €600,000 each by the Town Hall of Barcelona. The Town Hall, led by Ada Colau (pictured above), will fine both tourist accommodation platforms for continuing to advertise unlicensed apartments.

The mayoress of the city announced the decision yesterday, explaining that the fines will be imposed because both companies have ignored the Town Hall’s request to stop advertising illegal tourist apartments and provide data about the properties.

The first fine amounted to €30,000 for each technological company, but given that both portals continued their activity, the classification of the infringement has now been upgraded from serious to very serious, and the fine has increased to €600,000 for each firm, the maximum permitted under the Tourism Law.

The files have already been signed and the firms will be notified about the fines shortly. The amount of the sanction will reflect: the number of adverts published – 3,812 in the case of Airbnb and 1,744 in the case of HomeAway, according to the Town Hall –; the economic benefit they obtain; their dominant position in the market; and the recurrence of the infringement.

A fine of €30,000 has been maintained for other portals, including: Fotocasa, Open House, TripAdvisor, OnlyApartments, 9flats, Niumba and Rent4days.

Airbnb’s response

The US platform Airbnb, led in Spain by Arnaldo Muñoz in Barcelona, announced its decision to appeal the fine.

“This is a sad decision and Airbnb is going to appeal; less than a month ago a meeting was held between representatives of the Town Hall and Airbnb, where it was agreed that we would work together to support the city’s interests”, said the portal in a statement. Sources at the platform consider that “Airbnb is part of the solution in Barcelona, we want to be a strong ally in the cities in which we operate and we will continue to seek open dialogue with the Town Hall”.

According to Airbnb, there are contradictions in Barcelona’s tourist policies, which favour commercial operators and apartments dedicated solely to tourism in tourist areas, to the detriment of people who want to open up their own homes.

“We have to differentiate between professionals who operate lots of tourist apartments and individuals who rent out their homes from time to time”, say sources at Airbnb. The portal regrets that “Barcelona is resisting what is happening in most other cities in the world”. The portal has reached agreements with more than 200 cities and regions.

Original story: Expansión (by Tina Díaz)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Colau Closes 256 Tourist Apartments In 1 Month

11 August 2016 – Expansión

One month ago, the mayoress of Barcelona, Ada Colau, announced the launch of an emergency plan against unlicensed tourist apartments in operation in the city. Since then, the Town Hall has ordered the closure of 256 flats in total; in 2015, 400 orders were issued during the whole of the year. Nevertheless, for the trade association Apartur, which represents legal suppliers (of tourist accommodation), that figure is insufficient, and so it has called for the municipal government to make more effort.

A month ago, the town hall reinforced the number of agents making on-site inspections or verifying offers advertised on the internet. The sanctioned owners will receive a court order requiring them to cease their activity and they must pay a fine of €30,000. If they reoffend, the amount of the fine will increase.

One of the initiatives that Colau had announced a year ago was that unlicensed homes that joined the program for homes to be used as social housing would not be sanctioned, but for the time being, no property has joined that plan.

The town hall has also continued to process the files that it opened against the platforms Airbnb and Homeaway one year ago for reporting unlicensed flats.

Over the next few weeks, both operators will receive notifications and must pay a fine of €60,000 each. If they reoffend, the sanctions may reach €600,000.

The trade association Apartur celebrated the municipal initiative, but stressed that it is still a long way from eradicating the illegal offer that exists in the city. It also questioned the moratorium underway, which is affecting both the opening of hotels and the granting of new licences for tourist apartments, given that it is making the eradication of this activity more difficult. Its commitment, it said, is to a “responsible”, “sustainable” and civic tourist model.

Web site and letters

The municipal government defended itself against the critics and said that proof that it is giving priority to this issue is the creation of a website that allows neighbours to report illegal tourist apartments. During the course of one month, it has received 375 notifications. It has also started to send 800,000 letters this week, in which it calls on citizens to “collaborate”.

Nevertheless, the discomfort of several neighbourhood organisations against illegal tourist apartments is continuing to grow, and this summer it has extended further beyond the centre to reach neighbourhoods such as Poblenou.

Original story: Expansión (by David Casals)

Translation: Carmel Drake