The Canarian government continues to work on a detailed set of legal arguments to persuade the European Union to allow restrictions to be placed on non-residents buying properties in the islands.
As reported here previously, the regional authorities have been lobbying Brussels to secure an exemption from rules governing the free movement of EU citizens in order to ease the worrying housing crisis in the Canaries. The shortage of properties combined with spiralling demand has seen prices increase steadily in recent years, triggering protests by locals that they cannot afford to buy a home to live in.
Canarian housing minister Pablo Rodríguez confirmed yesterday that the government is drawing up solid legal arguments for the proposal to limit purchases by non-residents in view of the worsening situation, following statistics showing that up to one third of acquisitions in Tenerife, and one quarter in the Canaries generally, are by people from outside the islands.
According to Rodríguez, the restrictions are “necessary and fair” and come within the interpretation of article 349 of the EU Treaty, which provides for special treatment of Europe’s outermost regions in view of their special circumstances, which allow them to adopt “special measures to safeguard their socioeconomic contexts”.
The housing minister added that the Canaries are using their contacts in influential forums and bodies in Brussels, including the EU’s Committee of the Regions, to enlist support for the controversial move. He also urged Spain to throw its weight behind the proposal in ministerial meetings at EU level.
