Bizkaia is the historic area with the most tourist homes, with more than 2,000, but Gipuzkoa is close behind. There are nine places in tourist accommodation per 1,000 inhabitants.
At Hego Euskal Herria there are 5844 tourist homes, intended for short and seasonal rentals. But what impact does this number have on the tourism and housing market?
Most of these homes are indoors Bizkaia (2307), according to population. However, Gipuzkoa It follows not far behind (2000), due to the tourist importance of many municipalities. In Navarre There are 1,340 tourist houses, and in Alava There are only 197.
There have always been homes intended for summer holiday use, especially on the coast, but the range has now expanded. Many of those houses, which previously went unnoticed, are now registered as tourist homes and are more visible and accessible thanks to online holiday rental platforms.
These properties complete the tourist offering of hotels, apartments and rural accommodations and already represent a third of the total offering for travelers. The impact of these places on the tourist offer is very low in Navarra (23%) and low in the BAG (33.2).
The regional community ratio is at the bottom of the ranking of autonomous communities, and in the case of the CAV it is at the level of Madrid, the Canary Islands and the Balearic Islands, three autonomous communities with a great hotel tradition and , therefore with less weight to VT, despite the importance of the tourism sector. If we take Cantabria (46.4%) or Asturias (40.8%) as destinations comparable to the Basque Country, both are above.
He weight that VTs occupy within the tourism sector It’s disparate. It largely depends on the previous development of other infrastructures, such as hotels or tourist apartments in the municipality. So there are cases when 100% of the tourist places offered are VT, especially in small municipalities. In cities with a greater weight of hotels or inland, where there are rural accommodations, the percentage of VT is lower.
Another way to measure impact is to look at how much VT beds there is per 1000 inhabitants. Hego Euskal Herria’s data is well below the state average (36.1 beds per 1,000 inhabitants): there are 9.8 beds in Navarre and 9.2 in the BAC.
At the other extreme are the island communities. In the Balearic Islands the ratio is 137, and in the Canary Islands it is 85.1. Therefore, the impact of VT on the population in line with the weight of the sector in generating economic activity: about 40% on the islands, compared to the weight of 7% and 5.5% on GDP in Navarra and the BAC respectively.
It is advisable to zoom in on the photo and look at the municipalities, as the proportions are very different. Among the capitals, Saint Sebastian reaches 30.6 beds/1000 inhabitants. Below are Bilbao (11.6) and Pamplona (11.5), and higher, between 40 and 50, coastal municipalities such as Bermeo, Zarautz, Hondarribia or Lekeitio. Figures that show that the number and impact of homes depends on the tourist specialty of the municipality.
The impact is much greater as the number of inhabitants of the municipality decreases and ratios arise such as: Mundaka (192.9), Bakio (103.7) or Valcarlos (348.7), a notable case far from the coast, due to its tourist weight and smaller size. This is the “small dimension” effect.
Source: EITB
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
