Holiday rentals drive up prices in Valle Gran Rey and leave residents without rental options

A market taken over by tourist platforms

Much of the flat stock in Playa del Inglés and La Calera is now listed on tourist rental platforms.

Fewer flats for those who live on the island year-round

The number of homes available to residents has fallen markedly.

Service-sector workers left without housing near their jobs

Businesses in the area are struggling to fill seasonal positions due to a lack of accommodation.

The municipal response, still limited

Residents' groups are calling for specific regulation of holiday rentals.

Playa del Inglés and La Calera, the epicentre of tourist rentals

These two towns in Valle Gran Rey account for most of the municipality's tourist accommodation, drawing visitors who combine sun-and-beach tourism with the alternative appeal that has historically characterised the area. The returns from a holiday let comfortably outstrip those of a long-term lease, pushing more owners to put their properties to this use every season.

The service sector, hardest hit by the housing shortage

Restaurants, shops and water-sports businesses say the shortage of affordable housing is now one of the main obstacles to staffing up for peak season. Several local businesses have opted to provide their own staff accommodation, a solution only within reach of larger companies. The rest compete for an increasingly scarce and expensive rental stock.

Comparison with other tourist areas in the Canary Islands

The situation in Valle Gran Rey echoes what is already happening in parts of Tenerife or Fuerteventura with a high density of holiday rentals, although in La Gomera the phenomenon is more visible because it is a small municipality with little alternative housing supply. Residents' and trade union groups are calling for the island to avoid repeating the same mistakes made elsewhere in the archipelago before the problem worsens further.

The debate over future municipal regulation

Valle Gran Rey town council has acknowledged that it is studying ways to limit the proliferation of new holiday-rental licences in certain parts of the municipality, though there is currently no firm timetable for approval. The local tourism sector is asking that any measure be designed so as not to penalise small owners who depend on this activity as a supplementary income.