Tourist leases

The High Court of Justice (TSJ) of Granada has ruled in favor of a company that operated 29 tourist apartmentsand appealed against the municipality's orderrequiring it to stop renting these apartments as holiday homes. The municipality justified this precautionary measureby stating that the company did not have the necessary municipal licensefor this activity. However, the company argued that both the existence and the content of said license were not clear and, furthermore, for a period of time the administration had toleratedthe use of these apartments for tourism, so it considered the measure unjustified. When analyzing the case, the TSJ points out that the

document submittedby the municipality did not precisely detail which apartments were supposedly authorized, making it difficult to verifyif there was actually a lack of license. Furthermore, the TSJ highlights that the administration did not carry out an adequate assessmentof the affected interests nor justified why it was of the affected interests nor justified why it wasurgent and necessary to adopt such a restrictive measure on a precautionary basis, which constitutes a significantdefect for not respecting the principle of proportionality.

Another key aspect highlighted by the High Court is thatit is up to the administration to demonstrate, with clear evidence, that the company did not have the required license, something that in this case was not done correctly. As a result, the High Court overturns the precautionary measure of ceasing tourist activity, allowing the company tocontinue operating the apartments while the substance of the matter is resolved.