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Accommodation Granada - Dome Sweet Dome

As far as funky accommodation in Granada or indeed anywhere goes, Alhambra - ‘the red one’ - is pretty fabulous.  Once the home of Muslim kings, Alhambra is now a tourist attraction and reminder of the debt Spanish and European culture and heritage owes to Islamic civilisation.

Alhambra was completed in the fourteenth century, at the height of Muslim intellectual, social and economic dominance, in the midst of Europe’s Dark Age.  It’s one of the most complete Islamic palaces in the world today; and in its day Alhambra would have been alive with the vibrancy of colour and sound.

Isbabella I of Castille and Ferdinand II of Aragon, whose marriage united the two most powerful Catholic dynasties of that time and paved the way to a unified Spain, are buried there.   They solicited the Pope to authorise the Spanish Inquisition, and conjured the end of the incredible society and Golden Age created when a progressive society crossed the Gibraltar Straits.

When the Inquisition arrived in Granada, Muslims were separated from the rest of the population.  Much of the Granada accommodation the Muslims were forced out of remains into today.  These are beautiful buildings with internal courtyards at their heart - at the centre of family life.  If you book a Granada short-term rental for your trip to Spain, you’d be lucky to stay in one of these traditional Muslim homes.

In the end, the Inquisition was so brutally efficient as to cause all Muslims in Spain to convert to Catholicism within a twenty-year period. As many as 1,000,000 Arabic books were burned, and over 300,000 people were expelled from the country. The persecuted were as Iberian as their persecutors, but the effort to erase 700 years of history was absolute, and has been ongoing, in quieter ways, since.

Whether for Alhambra Hay Festival, Alhambra itself, free tapas, flamenco dancing, the Sierra Nevada mountains, or cave house apartments in Granada, which are dug into the hillside, leisure travellers should understand then something of the history that links two cultures in ways only beginning to be understood.

When the Muslims arrived in Europe they saw tyranny rife in a land laid vulnerable and unprotected in the power vacuum left by the collapse of Rome.  Evidence suggests the invaders were largely welcomed, sometimes as saviours, with treaties pointing to the free exchange of land for protection.  Such were the advantages of this new civilisation, Spain’s indigenous population converted to Islam in droves.

The Muslims brought with them social structure and sophisticated knowledge including cutting-edge technology for irrigation, transforming the Spanish landscape, and a sophisticated trade network that enabled this new agriculture to create huge wealth.  Spain had never before known the lemon and orange groves so associated with it today.

The Muslims introduced to Europe running water, sewerage works, the concept of land rental, an organised legal system, and even paper, a revolutionary technology that changed the face of Europe. Even Europe’s literature has been directly influenced, through the transfer of knowledge from Muslim Spain to the troubadours of France.

In the end Alhambra’s overwhelming beauty is less about frivolous and lustrous aesthetics as the mathematical ingenuity behind its geometry, which creates a sense of overwhelming calm.  Nor was there anything superficial about 700 years of Muslim Spain, or the inheritance it left to today’s Europeans.  Nor should there be anything superficial about the modern-day visitor’s stay in modern-day Granada - in a holiday apartment and other short term apartment rental in this famed beautiful destination - for there are necessary truths to encounter.

Increasingly savy consumers are choosing short term apartment rental as the preferred accommodation choice for their holiday or business trip away from home. In line with the rest of Europe, it is safe then to assume Amsterdam holiday apartment rental will remain big business for as long as the demand for freedom of space and connection with local communities exists - luxuries rarely afforded by a stay in a hotel. Or is it?

An Amsterdam holiday apartment owner recently passed on advice outlining a government crackdown on the Amsterdam short-term rental industry including Amsterdam apartment rentals for rental periods less than six months. The Amsterdam apartment owner sited illegal hotels operating in Amsterdam and a housing shortage as the reasons behind the Government’s crackdown, and went so far as to remove his short-term holiday let from the market pending the introduction of permits, which, he explained, would allow the rental of Amsterdam holiday apartments to tourists.

The holiday apartment owner in question remains hopeful that permits will materialise in time for the summer crowds, but do his concerns have a basis in reality?

It remains easy to book short rental periods for Amsterdam accommodation including apartments in Amsterdam. The normal required minimum length of stay is three days, but can sometimes be even shorter. And there are plenty of apartment owners and agencies specialising in Amsterdam apartments operating on the Internet. A quick look through google using such popular search phrases as ‘holiday Amsterdam apartment‘ or ‘apartment rental Amsterdam‘ does little to corroborate our cautious apartment owner’s concerns.

In fact the only information in support of a government crackdown is a dubious forum post and subsequent thread that alleges the action against certain types of accommodation in Amsterdam extends to customers: Unfortunate holiday goers have allegedly been evicted from premises up-and-down Amsterdam, and turfed out like yesterday’s newspapers, onto the street. But, if this were true, one might expect a trail of complaints and warnings to other leisure travellers left by unhappy consumers, of which there is none in evidence.

It is possible there is some bureaucratic oddity to circumnavigate when placing an apartment in Amsterdam on the market for holiday rentals. In Catalunya, Spain, for example, a law exists stating that in some areas holiday rentals must be registered with the council. But since Spanish law holds jurisdiction over Catalunyan law, a rental contract between the landlord and guest negates this apparent necessity.

Similar could be so for at least some areas of Amsterdam. The dodgy forum post claims the Dutch government is targeting “illegal hotels including short term apartments in the centrum [sic].” Inner city problems could convincingly explain the need for monitoring the use of dwellings, especially in areas of high housing need. But there is a wide gap between monitoring and targeting.

When all is said and done, the likelihood of the authorities kicking you out of your holiday apartment in Amsterdam seem slim at a conservative estimate, and probably fantastical. Nor are there any reliable grounds for concern for owners of holiday apartments. Holiday apartments Amsterdam has mileage in the tourist industry yet.

Barcelona is often pointed to as a model of urban planning and renewal, especially since the city hosted the 1992 Olympic Games. Increasingly large numbers of Europeans flocked in search of Barcelona apartment rentals, whether for a Barcelona holiday apartment by the sea or in the Old City, or short-term apartment rental for longer periods. No city is more popular a destination for European immigrants and holiday makers continuing into today.

The upshot is a problem of affordability and space. Rapid population growth coupled with tourism in Barcelona have resulted in a housing shortage, and sharp rent inflation. Sandwiched as it is between a mountain range and the Mediterranean Sea, Barcelona cannot leak into an unending urban sprawl. Barcelona accommodation is a scarce commodity growing scarcer.

With money to be made in Barcelona holiday apartment rental and Barcelona short-term apartment rental, the balance between accommodating visitors and locals is proving difficult to address. House prices have risen so fast, local people find it difficult to continue living there. Young people struggle to find a home in the area they grew up, while low-income families live in often overcrowded or unsuitable conditions.

While Barcelona house prices including apartment rental prices have risen drastically over the years since the 1992 Olympic Games, the average cost of renting in Barcelona remains lower compared to some other major European cities. This relative level of affordability and Barcelona’s reputation for great urban spaces - winding streets lined with restaurants, bars, boutiques, and leafy trees - have kept the visitors visiting. For those who stay for months or even a few years, renting is the best option. Renting is also the logical first step for those who seek to remain and buy their own home in the long term.

Many if not most private landlords are represented by agencies with a sting in their tail: Due to Barcelona’s housing shortage, agencies are able to charge hefty agency fees. Typically equal to the cost of one month’s rent, agency fees are paid for the privilege of securing your Barcelona short-term rental (typically arranged on a yearly basis, although six-month contracts are often available). It is desirable, but often more difficult, to rent a Barcelona apartment direct from the owner.

But it’s not all fun-and-games for the property owners and their representatives. Spanish housing law still offers a high level of protection for tenants, and it remains a slow process for landlords to evict tenants with rent arrears. For this reason, agencies and landlords normally require proof of paid employment - normally a payslip - from new tenants. New tenants without proof of steady earnings can be required to pay several months rent in advance, or else a friend or family member may be able to act as a guarantor to guarantee rent payments. But whether buying or renting, it’s increasingly a rich man’s game.

In today’s market-driven global economy it is clear urban renewal rarely reflects the needs of local communities. A positive impact on house prices means increased house prices, which logically means local residents are priced out of the market. In Barcelona, international residents and property investors have benefited most, while local residents have suffered the brunt of the booming housing market and enhanced status of their city.