A leading hotel chain in Tenerife has bought two unfinished buildings in the south of the island in a bid to resolve the growing housing crisis for its staff.
Spring Hotels says it decided to step in and buy the buildings in San Isidro (Granadilla) to turn them into almost one hundred flats for use by staff working at its hotels in the nearby resorts.
The move has been prompted by the spiralling cost of rentals due to the surge in the use of housing stock for short-term holiday lets and the failure of the authorities to build affordable housing in the area to meet the constant demand.
Speaking on local radio, the chain’s CEO Miguel Villarroya criticised the decision to allow tens of thousands of flats to become holiday homes, turning residential areas into new holiday locations without considering the impact on those needing housing near their place of work.
“We had to sit down and think what would happen tomorrow if we grew further but found ourselves in a position where ewe could no recruit staff because of the cost of accommodation”, explained Villarroya, whose chain hit the headlines at the end of June after announcing it had acquired the flagship Mare Nostrum hotel complex in Playa de Las Américas.
Trade unions representing the hotel sector and hospitality industry generally in south Tenerife have been pressing for substantial pay increases to offset the rise in housing costs for works, some of whom say they have been forced to give up work as they cannot make ends meet. In several parts of south Tenerife, the number of short-let apartments is reportedly twenty times higher than those available for longer term residential rental.
The two buildings purchased by Spring Hoteles in the centre of the fast-growing dormitory town of San Isidoro for 1.6 million euros and 600,000 euros will enable the chain to complete the original plans for 62 and 32 flats respectively.
According to Villarroya, a key factor in the surprise move was that the building permits for both buildings were still in force and completion of the work was therefore much simpler and quicker than if a new application had to be made.
Photo: building under construction
