British and Irish holiday home owners in the Canary Islands are being hit with ... trends now
British and Irish second home owners in the Canary Islands have been hit with £2,000 fines for refusing to rent out their holiday properties to tourists.
Apartment owners in the south of Gran Canaria have been receiving fines of £2,000 for living in the homes rather than renting out the flats specifically built for tourists.
They are not just required to rent out the apartments to holidaymakers, but they also have to do it through a registered tourist operator and can't do it themselves.
The sanctions have led to demonstrations on the island over the effects of legislation punishing people who want to use their properties in tourist zones as their main residence or holiday home.
Reports in April last year identified a Spanish OAP as the first person fined under a controversial tourist law by the Canary Islands Regional Government.
And overnight Irishman John Hefferman vented his anger as he revealed how he had arrived at the holiday home in Gran Canaria he bought 13 years ago to find a £1,930 (€2,250) fine waiting for him.
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Overnight Irishman John Hefferman vented his anger as he revealed how he had arrived at the holiday home (pictured right) in Gran Canaria he bought 13 years ago to find a £1,930 (€2,250) fine waiting for him
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The property is in an apartment block called Apartamentos Las Algas in the south of the island.
Mr Hefferman is one of 400 homeowners said to have been sanctioned over the past few months.
Those affected say the government is being pressurised by the likes of tourist operators who say the residential use of apartments on tourist complexes has meant the loss of 68,000 beds for tourists throughout the islands.
