The mayor of Adeje, José Miguel Rodríguez Fraga, has stated that the Town Hall is considering more actions than just requesting the Canary Islands Government to declare the municipality a stressed area, “a palliative measure that will not solve the problem” of housing shortages.
In statements to the media, Rodríguez Fraga points out that Adeje faces “a critical problem” regarding housing and one of the measures being considered to address it is “the one offered by the law, the declaration of a stressed zone”, which “will allow for rental price control and incentivize property owners to put their homes on the market due to fiscal advantages.”
However, he continued, “we are aware that it is a palliative measure that will not solve the problem” and, therefore, “many other measures need to be taken, on which we are working.”
Among these measures, he mentioned land release, the construction of affordable housing, and private initiatives in these types of developments, to enable “workers to access it at a reasonable price.”
A third option, as indicated by the mayor of Adeje, is “social rentals for families in more complex situations”.
Rodríguez Fraga mentioned that in Adeje there have been “some initiatives and we have experience”, as “we have already gone through similar processes to this one and have created more than 1,000 homes”, which is why “we want to regain the initiative” from the local council.
The Government of Canary Islands believes that its housing strategy is more effective, specifically, “the combination” of the urgent measures decree and the upcoming holiday rental housing law, rather than declaring stressed zones. This was expressed in statements to EFE by the spokesperson of the Canarian government, Alfonso Cabello, in response to the announcement by the Adeje Town Hall that it will request such a declaration at the next municipal council meeting.
