Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2025/05/29
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Thanks Don, Peter and Jayanand, for looking and for the interesting discussion. The kind of distortion of the market that Jayanand talks about does not exist here in Spain. When we came here in 2007 it was easy to find rental properties in all price ranges, and it remained like that for the next several years. Things started changing when investors started buying up apartment buildings in cities like Alicante, Barcelona or Palma de Mallorca to convert them to AirBnB. So we are not talking about a landlord deciding to withdraw from the normal rental market in favour of AirBnB. Rather, it is an investor (often from abroad) who offers a price high enough to entice him to sell. Of course, a fundamentalist will say that this is just the market at work, but it is not that simple. A decent home is not just a good like a bag of potatoes; it is a fundemental human right, and when even doctors or schoolteachers cannot afford the rent in a place like Palma, then something is seriously wrong. Regarding tourism in general, of course nobody in Spain wants to get rid of it. We are the world?s second-most visited country (after France, and closing in) and everyone is aware of its importance. But there is quality tourism and there are English stag parties who rent an AirBnB, trash it and leave streets strewn with broken glass and lubricated with vomit. When you walk around Barcelona city centre, you see lots of signs saying things like ?We live here too? and ?Let us sleep? etc. Besides, those kinds of tourists are not particularly lucrative, since they mainly buy junk food and cheap booze in the supermarkets. Another type of tourism I can do without are the cruise ships. It is simply beyond me why any city (including Alicante) would want to promote this. Having done a Mediterranean cruise myself once, I conclude that the amount we brought to the local economies of the ports we visited was minimal, usually just lunch. Breakfast and dinner were at the ship, and of course no hotel revenue for the cities since the ship is the hotel. We noticed that quite a few of our fellow passengers stuffed their faces at the breakfast buffet so that they would not need to buy lunch ashore, and some did not even bother leaving the ship. So the main contribution of the cruise ship to the local environment was the pollution that results from running the diesel engines all day. /rant over/ Nathan Nathan Wajsman photo at frozenlight.eu http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws http://www.greatpix.eu http://www.frozenlight.eu @nwajsman.bsky.social ????? ???????! ?????? ?????! > On 29 May 2025, at 13:51, Jayanand Govindaraj via LUG <lug at > leica-users.org> wrote: > > Peter, > All these outcomes you mention are just symptoms of distortions caused by > bad policy making, not the cause. Politicians love to pass bad laws for > short term political gain, and the genie, once it escapes from the bottle, > seldom goes back in. Invariably, policies cause distortions in the economy > - it is inevitable. There is no free lunch - for example, in this case, you > cannot have tourist money and peace/calm from no tourists at the same time! > Secondly, IMHO, most people are quite rational in their decision making, so > there has to be some economic reason why landlords prefer a seasonal rent > through AirBnB to a full year of rent from a local renter. If it was > India, the reason would be obvious to anyone who lives here - the local > state laws overwhelmingly favour tenants over landlords, to the extent that > rents could not be raised and tenancy could be inherited as well - a > terrible law put in place to make housing affordable to local renters. All > that happened is the stock completely dried up in cities like Mumbai, > causing the very problem it was meant to ease, as landlords prefered to > keep residences locked up rather than rent it out. > > > Cheers > Jayanand > > On Thu, May 29, 2025 at 4:17?PM Peter Dzwig <pdzwig at summaventures.com> > wrote: > >> Jayanand, >> >> It's not just Spain; we have a bit of what they call "resistance" in >> Wales and Cornwall, also in parts of France too and in Italy. >> >> The feeling is that in some places people are buying properties just to >> AirBnB them, thereby depriving locals of potential accommodation. I >> understand that in Spain it is particularly bad, but no doubt Nathan >> will fill us in. >> >> It is also related to over-tourism, in part raised by increased >> ecological and environmental concerns. Venice is a good example. >> >> In France our local Commune has decided to close the largest parking >> space on market days because of the sheer numbers of tourists. They fear >> that because of the very few roads and the sheer weight of people, there >> is a disaster waiting to happen and it would be difficult, if not >> impossible, for the emergency services to get through. >> >> The reality is that the village has been oversold as a beautiful >> destination for many years. As an acquaintance said "well, it's >> beautiful, but not that beautiful!" >> >> Interestingly, it's a decision that must have been approved by the Mayor. >> >> Peter >> >> PS The Commune is Gordes in the Vaucluse >> >> On 29/05/2025 07:23, Jayanand Govindaraj via LUG wrote: >>> Don't Airbnb properties belong to Spaniards? Spain as a whole would lose >>> economically. Looks like a classical NIMBY viewpoint implying a desire to >>> cut one's nose to spite one's face. >>> >>> Cheers >>> Jayanand >>> >>> On Thu, May 29, 2025 at 10:44?AM Nathan Wajsman via LUG < >> lug at leica-users.org> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> A very enjoyable week, with events centred on our art club, but also an >>>> excellent Greek lunch and some nice landscapes to start the week. And >> our >>>> poor Mochi has been neutered against my protests. That is why I called >> him >>>> a victim of feminist aggression. It?s all here: >>>> >>>> https://www.fotocycle.dk/paws/?page_id=4677 >>>> >>>> And as always, comments and critique are welcome and apprec, iated. >>>> >>>> Nathan >>>> >>>> Nathan Wajsman >>>> photo at frozenlight.eu >>>> >>>> http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws >>>> http://www.greatpix.eu >>>> http://www.frozenlight.eu >>>> @nwajsman.bsky.social >>>> >>>> ????? ???????! ?????? ?????! >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Leica Users Group. >>>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Leica Users Group. >>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> >> -- >> Dr. Peter Dzwig >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Leica Users Group. >> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information