Competition || AHETA, the Algarve’s hoteliers association, has publically praised Portugal’s tax authorities for stepping up measures against “illegal” renters this summer.
In June, the government put forward new regulations to “simplify” the process of registering properties for ‘alojamento local’ (holiday rental accommodation) and said it would be carrying out “stricter inspections” on property owners who did not register.
In an official statement, the hoteliers association has praised the tax authorities’ tighter control of illegal holiday homes, especially in the Algarve, where the number of “illegal renters tends to be higher”.
According to AHETA, the government’s once light-handed approach to this “parallel market” created “unfair competition” for hoteliers and contributed to an increase in the number of illegal holiday homes that was “hard to quantify”.
AHETA hopes the government will continue to carry out inspections and implement “stricter” measures to fight one of the factors that has “most contributed to the loss of competitiveness in the Algarve’s hotelier and tourist sectors”.
However, not everyone is happy to hear of the government’s new regulations for holiday homes.
The Resident spoke with some property owners in June who slammed the government’s new tactics in what they believe is a “return to the epoch of terror” and that “anyone who wants to register their property is letting themselves in for a complete nightmare” due to excessive bureaucracy and high taxes.
