The ‘mafias’ that control illegal activities

He recently admitted that he didn’t know how many of the properties that were approved actually sold. Only a few, he estimated; about ten percent. He was tired of writing reports just for the endless procedures to stretch everythingHe was then able to announce (this was towards the end of July) that the Balearic Islands decree on administrative simplification would allow the Council to end the illegal activity at the start of the sanctions procedure.

This is a problem that he, his predecessors in the Council and the Balearic Government, before they transferred responsibilities to the Council, have had to deal with. Illegal properties can be identified, procedures can be initiated, but the The activity may continue while the procedures are being carried out. Ridiculous? Many thought so, hence the introduction of this new approach, with a more or less immediate handover of the files to the Public Prosecution Service (within seven days at the latest).

Good. Or it seemed good before the Spanish government objected to the decision on administrative simplification. Not on political grounds, but constitutional; the decree mechanism was not suited to the nature of the legislation. The two governments will have to try to fight it out and come to an acceptable solution. If not, the Constitutional Court will be called in. And that will mean suspending the decree while our learned friends consider the arguments of both sides.

Rodríguez will be tearing his hair out if this seemingly sensible change of procedure gets tangled up in this obscure formality of constitutional law. At least he won’t be hindered in doubling of fines for illegal holiday rentals. The minimum will now be 80,000 euros per object, his priorities are repeat offenders and the big operators. And it is the latter who arguably pose the biggest challenge.

In Barcelona, ​​city hall says ten ‘mafia’ groups are still active. The activities of these groups usually consist of renting out properties and then subletting them as illegal holiday rentals (there are different ‘modus operandi’). Since 2016, the City Hall has stopped 22 such groups. In the first two weeks of July, 134 properties were inspected. Most belonged to one of these organised gangs, which not only act in breach of the law on holiday rentals, but also defraud homeowners. Last week, Barcelona’s deputy mayor, ​​Laia Bonet, said that there had been an increase in these types of ‘offenders’ in recent years and that they were not always easy to detect. For this reason, the City Hall has been working with other authorities. The Tax Agency is one of them, because these gangs are involved in tax fraud.

But there is more. The newspaper The Vanguardia three gangs were reported last weekend would control about half of illegal rentals in Barcelona. These mafias operate with total disregard for procedures and rules. Of the 134 premises, a number were sealed. The seals were quickly broken and activities resumed. Fines would not bother them and they have lawyers who know how to slow things down. Something that Rodríguez is well aware of, as he will also be aware of the presence of one of these three gangs in Mallorca. There is at least one premises in Palma that has been in operation for about eighteen months, which raises questions about whether there are other premises and other mafias. The answer is almost certainly yes.