renting

We Spaniards are stopping having Christmas trees because they don’t fit in our house. So there are already companies renting them

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The year or the city doesn’t matter. At least in Spain, Christmas usually comes accompanied by a series of images that are repeated December after December, invariably: streets full of colored ledsbalconies in which they begin to appear papanoels and other Christmas decorations, shop windows in which gold, silver and reddish colors suddenly predominate… and living rooms in which trees full of tinsel and garlands sprout overnight. Year after year the same questions are also repeated: better natural or artificial tree? And above all… What the hell do we do with it after Epiphany, when it’s time to pick up the decorations? Where do we store it, if we already have the storage room all the way up? There are those who have seen In those doubts a promising business. Tree Earrings. There is no Christmas without decorations. And there is no Christmas decoration worth its salt without a good tree. It’s been like this all our lives, but just in case there were any doubts, cities like Vigo, Barcelona, Badalona either Madriddetermined to build gigantic trees in the heart of the urban area. Something similar happens in businesses, offices and homes. People demand trees (both artificial and natural), something that is felt in the nurseries and the big chains of decoration. As a reference, the National Christmas Tree Association (NCTA) estimates that each year they are sold in the US between 25 and 30 million of natural Christmas trees, which requires a huge plantation with hundreds of millions of copies distributed throughout the country. The dilemma, whether you choose real or fake fir trees, is… What to do with them later? A question, a business. There are those who have seen that question and the demand for Christmas trees as a business. After all… Why rack your brains choosing decorations, assembling them, disassembling them and then looking for a place to store them for months if we can pay a company to take care of everything? Or better yet, what if instead of buying the tree we rented it? Leasing trees may sound strange, but there comes a quick search on Google to find a few companies that operate in Spain and they dedicate precisely to that: to temporarily give up trees full of lights in exchange for a fee. The offer is wide and includes everything from small specimens to others of large size and size, for both indoor and outdoor spaces. But is it a business? Yes. The holidays may only last a few weeks, but if companies like Ximenezthe Córdoba company that has been in charge of setting up decorations in Vigo, Madrid, Barcelona or Milan, is that Christmas decorations can become a million dollar business. After all, it is not only families who demand decoration. Governments and companies of all kinds also do it, from businesses that do not have space to store decorations the rest of the year to hotels that need trees for their living rooms and hallways. In a warehouse in Madrid… One of the most popular Christmas tree rental companies in Spain is B&M, a family business with twenty years of experience that works from a warehouse in Tetuán, Madrid. Recently those responsible they explained to The Spanish Newspaper Every campaign, about 200 trees come out of there ready to decorate and that the company itself is in charge of collecting once the holidays are over. Their work involves several challenges, such as matching the taste of their clients and coordinating the logistics that require dismantling and removing 200 trees during the second week of January. “The pickup is intense because on the 9th everyone wants you to pick it up.” “Three, four hours at least”. The company also makes it clear that although it may seem like a simple task, preparing the ideal tree requires work. First they convey a proposal to the clients. Then they shape it. “A four or five meter tree is a job for five or six people, who have to spend at least three or four hours on it,” clarifies the signaturewhich explains, for example, that there are businesses that want trees with their corporate colors. How much do these services cost? In your website There are rates (with delivery and collection service included) ranging from 265 to 2,800 euros, without VAT. It all depends on the tree you want. They range from 1.5 to five meters. Are there more options? Yes. The demand for Christmas decoration is intense enough that it has encouraged other businesses, such as those that are committed to sustainability and offer a rent in pot. Your proposal? Instead of buying a plastic tree or taking a felled fir, rent one that you can place in your house alive, with its pot. Once in your living room you can decorate and take care of it and after Christmas the company will collect it to take it to a forest or to its nursery of origin. Images | Arun Kuchibhotla (Unsplash) and Jared Lind (Unsplash) In Xataka | Without knowing it, we all honor Thor during Christmas thanks to a pagan ritual: the Christmas tree

After renting swimming pools during the summer, a new business is on the rise in Madrid: private terraces in winter

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In a chalet in Boadilla del Monte, a group of friends drinks their wine as the afternoon falls. In the center of Madrid, a couple celebrates a birthday on a stranger’s terrace. In Lavapiés, a group of twenty-somethings toast in a room. In all cases, there is something in common: none of them are owners, but for a few hours they can pretend that they are. Madrid is rented in fragments: swimming pools in summer, terraces in autumn and lounges in winter. The everyday turned into a stage, intimacy turned into a product. Renting all year round. What started as a summer curiosity —renting private pools by the hour— has become a new form of urban leisure. Platforms like Cocopool, Born as the “Airbnb of water”now they also rent interiors for the rest of the year. However, behind this fashion there is something deeper than a simple leisure trend: an attempt to buy a life. aestheticthat ideal of calm, natural light and well-being that we see every day on social networks. From the dip to the shelter. Renting pools by the hour is still very popular and there are more and more platforms where you can choose where to take your next dip. What seemed like a seasonal business has become deseasonalized. In 2022 Cocopool launched as the “Airbnb of swimming pools”. Now, as explained by its CEO Gerard Xalabardéthe company has come up with “new verticals that cover the same needs the rest of the year.” In autumn and spring, users can rent terraces and gardens; in winter, private lounges with fireplace, sofas and equipped kitchen. In Madrid, the company has 15 interior spaces and 62 terraces or gardens, with prices ranging from 15 to 300 euros, depending on size and luxury. The average cost is around 32 euros for interiors and 34 for terraces, according to company data. The wish of a life aesthetic. This boom not only responds to a practical demand, but also to an aesthetic desire. Renting a well-kept terrace or a designer living room is not just about seeking comfort, but —as Xataka Home explains— “engage in an aspirational lifestyle, even if just for a few hours.” What used to materialize in Pinterest photos or TikTok videos is now experienced in the flesh: a garden with garlands, a light wooden table, a blue pool without background noise. According to Trendsthe phenomenon aesthetic It combines nostalgia for bygone eras with an obsession with the visually perfect: a life that seems orderly, beautiful and under control. In parallel, one could speak of “silent luxury” as the new form of exclusivity: minimalism, noble materials, neutral colors and absence of ostentation. In other words, renting a beige living room is not just leisure: it is a little aesthetic therapy to escape, for a few hours, from everyday clutter. “All for hours.” Pool rentals were just the beginning. The logic of sharing has been extended to almost any experience: terraces, gardens, living rooms, naps and even weddings. But beyond business ingenuity, there is a clear drift: the capitalization of any redoubt of private life. The intimate becomes the stage, the everyday becomes the product. Fewer and fewer things escape the logic of express rental. What was once shared among friends is now reserved with a card. What was rest is now sold as an experience. However, there are also those who find in these platforms a practical solution, not a fantasy. aesthetic. In a city where the flats they shrink and houses rarely allow more than six people to gather, renting a terrace or living room for a few hours can be a reasonable—and affordable—way to celebrate a birthday, a family reunion, or a meal with friends. Not everything is posturing: sometimes there is simply a lack of space. Although, in the words of geographer Vicent Molins, “Madrid has become a product.” And economist Juan Torres López warns that this trend “erodes urban ties and deepens inequality,” because it turns coexistence into business. In other words: if everything can be rented, everything can no longer belong to us. A copy of a copy. In just five years, Spain has gone from renting other people’s beds with Airbnb to renting moments of life: a pool, a terrace, a nap or, soon, a wedding. Everything is offered by the hour, everything is measured in experiences. Platforms like Cocopool, HolaPlace or Nap & Go They capitalize on a shared desire: to experience what we see on networks, even if it is for a while. A more orderly, beautiful, more aesthetic. Maybe, as El País warned“the brand grows, but the city gets worse for those who live in it.” Or maybe we’re just learning to put a price—literally—on what used to be free: the feeling of belonging, of having something of your own. Because, in the end, that life that we so long for on screens is nothing more than a copy of another copy. And we, paying to imitate her, are also a little bit. Image | FreePik Xataka | Neither air conditioning nor fan: the best thing to cool off in summer is a swimming pool. On these platforms they are rented by the hour

London prohibited renting homes on Airbnb more than 90 days a year. You will not believe what happened: prices lowered

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In 2017 it was Airbnb itself that introduced an innovative limit in the city of London: 90 annual days as a stop for complete housing rentals. The measure, adopted after authorities pressure Local and London’s town hall, sought to prevent the platform from being used fraudulently. Today we know that the consequence, although weak, was expected: up to 4%. Airbnb and London. Airbnb’s growth in London during the 2010 made the city one of the main focus of the collaborative economy, with More than 40,000 properties offered and an annual expansion. However, what was born as a specific form of income for individuals quickly became a business for professional operators. Almost A quarter From the advertisements of complete housing they exceeded the threshold of the 90 annual rental nights without having the required permission, which took thousands of floors from the residential market. The phenomenon generated neighborhood complaints about the constant rotation of temporary tenants and additional pressure on a market already tensioning for the lack of affordable housing. The political reaction. The lack of capacity of the municipalities to monitor these excesses led to local leaders Como Sarah Haywardin Camden, to denounce that whole neighborhoods were being emptied of long -term rent. Given this situation, Airbnb recognized that the regulation was inescapable and that it should prevent its platform from being used as a way to operate undercover hotels. The measure had the support of opposition politicians, Like Tom Copleythat demanded a firm response to stop the negative effects on local communities. The 90 -day rule. Thus, given the growing pressure, Airbnb decided to introduce in 2017 An automatic limitation: No host could rent a complete home more than 90 nights per year unless it was proven to have authorization from the Consistory. It was a way of transferring the legal restriction directly to the code of the application itself, preventing the ads from remaining active once the limit is exceeded. With this measure, the company tried to stop Operators’ abuse professionals and project a commitment to urban sustainability. The change was well received by local managers, who considered that only a platform level control could guarantee the effective compliance of the norm. The impact on prices. Now, with the data of recent studiesan open secret has been confirmed: that the Airbnb expansion reduced the residential rental offer and uploaded prices in several districts in London. But not just that. The introduction of the 90 -day rule allowed for a time to mitigate part of these effects, with a registered fall around 4.1% in housing price rates after the entry into force of the regulation. In other words: the episode became a reference to analyze how digital platforms can transform urban markets and to what extent regulation itself can correct its externalities. The (great) dilemma. The London case reflects a gallimatisms present in many other large cities: How to balance the economic attraction of digital platforms with the need to protect housing as a social good. While Airbnb defenders highlight the flexibility, diversification of tourism and additional income for families, their critics underline the Gentrificationthe Tourist saturation and the loss of tissue Community London, in this way, became In a laboratory Of this tension, showing that without a robust regulatory framework (and, very important, sustained), the impact on housing can be devastating. A precedent. The introduction of The London rule He had an international impact, by inspiring other local governments to establish similar limits. European and American cities closely observed The experimentverifying that the combination of technological automation and political control could reduce adverse effects. The debate, of course, remains more than open: to what extent the platforms must self -regulate, and how far the states will impose restrictions to safeguard the right to housing. The citywith its mixture of neighborhood pressure, empirical data And political decisions, it was erected at a turning point in the relationship between digital economy and urban policies. Comparative with other “great.” As we said, the London frame was not isolated. In Berlinthe proliferation of tourist rentals led to the introduction of fines of up to 100,000 euros For those who rent more than half of their home without permission, a rule that sought to avoid the massive conversion of residential buildings into tourist accommodations. In Barcelonathe City Council has undertaken A crusade Against illegal tourist floors, closing hundreds of ads and fine Airbnb for not removing accommodations without a license, in an attempt to contain the expulsion of neighbors in central neighborhoods (while hotels prices rose). In New Yorkthe restrictions focused in limiting rentals of complete apartments when the owner did not live in the same property, accompanied by daily sanctions of up to $ 1,000to prevent whole blocks from being converted into clandestine hotels. San Francisco set sanctions from up to $ 1,000 newspapers not to register the properties. All examples that show how cities, each with their legal and social peculiarities, agreed on an essential point: the Airbnb phenomenon had overcome the border of technological innovation to become a real political and urban challenge of the first order. Image | Pexels, Pexels In Xataka | It is not that mass tourism has been installed in Madrid, Barcelona or Rome, is that it has reached the Galapagos Islands In Xataka | In 2023 New York closed the tap to Airbnb to protect his home. Two years later, only hotels are happy

In the Canary Islands accessing a home is an impossible mission. So an NGO is buying and renting for 300 euros per month

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In mid -October, just after thousands of people They went out to the street in Madrid to claim more affordable rentals and threatened with a ‘Tenant strike’the Housing Minister recognized that Spain is going through an “emergency situation” in residential matters. It is not easy Buy a house. Neither rent it. Especially where the markets are more tension for demand, case of Barcelona, Madrid or the Canary Islands, where The added pressure of mass tourism already forces some workers to Live in motorhomes. With that backdrop in the Canary Islands an experience has emerged that reveals to what extent the housing has become a first level challenge In Spain: an NGO has decided to provide houses for rent at affordable prices. An NGO that manages houses? Correct. The news He advanced a few days ago to be the palms. In full Rent climbing and with the house turned into one of the problems that most removes the dream of the Spaniards According to CIS pollsin the Canary Islands a non -profit organization (Provivienda) seeks to put it a little easier for families who want to rent a house. As? The SER chain Precise that through the acquisition of houses in the free market that then leases vulnerable tenants in exchange for a price much lower than the market, about 340 euros per month. The agreement has a series of conditions For example, beneficiaries commit themselves to rent seven years and contracts can extend for several decades. Click on the image to go to Tweet. “Pioneer at the state level”. Fernando Rodríguez, manager of Provivienda, He claimed that his initiative is “pioneer” at “state level” and defended his benefits. “Until now the promotion of public housing was in the hands of the administration and secondly of the promoters. Here we have opened a third way, the third sector as a provider of social public housing,” assures. In 2024 se They leased 40 houses Already ends of this year Rodríguez hopes to have a park of almost A hundred of houses to offer them in exchange for social income. This expects to alleviate one of the “structural problems” that, in its opinion, suffers from the Canarian market: the shortage of affordable rentals. Floors for 340 euros. “We have already started with the rent of the first homes and the average income is around 340 euros per month,” assures The head of Provivienda. Leased apartments are reinforced and ended up by people registered in the Registration of plaintiffs of Public Housing of the Canary Islands, which basically pay their rent and invoices. Community expenses, the Real Estate Tax (IBI), the garbage fee or insurance is assumed by the lessor. Regarding income prices and why this average of 340 euros per month has decided, Rodríguez Clarify That the rentals are limited to five euros the m2 and the houses are around 65 and 70 m2. Adding efforts (and investment). The NGO is not the only one that takes chest. In May 2023 the Canary Islands Government announced The investment of 6.2 million euros for the purchase of 76 homes that would be allocated to the “affordable rent for vulnerable families” by the hand of Provivienda. “An agreement has been signed with the Association for the Purchase of Housing in municipalities tension for the price of rents,” explained The office of Sebastián Franquis. The statement issued in 2023 by the Ministry, it helps to better understand the housing program and how the apartments that are then rented to vulnerable persons are acquired with the help of Provivienda. The 10.2 million that cost to get those 76 houses, for example, were paid to 60% with public funds and 40% with resources contributed by the organization itself. Families excluded from the market. The organization also selects the properties following several criteria. In the case of the 76 announced in 2023, for example, the houses They were distributed For Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Telde, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, San Cristóbal de la Laguna, Arona and Los Llanos de Aridane. “Financed homes may only be leased or assigned to persons whose annual income, including those of all people who constitute the coexistence unit, do not exceed three times the IPREM (20,844 euros per year) at the time of subscription of the corresponding contract of lease or assignment “, The island government added. The objective: that can benefit from the “Vulnerable Families who cannot access a free market house” program. What is Provivienda? In 2023 the Canarian Executive I presented it As a non -governmental organization constituted as a non -profit association dedicated to “promote housing and social housing programs”, especially for those who have more problems when accessing a floor. According to regional government calculations, by Enton, more than 25,000 homes for rent only in the Canary Islands. Last year the government He announced again A collaboration agreement with the Association to “consolidate” the ‘Vacía Housing’ program. The entity too Help immigrants to seek residence and has reached agreements with Other public bodies Out of the islands, like the Xunta de Galicia. The backdrop. As a backdrop is the difficult residential panorama that is lived in much of the country, including the archipelago, where already They have registered protests for the effects of Tourist. Idealista data show that the price of M2 for rent in Santa Cruz de Tenerife has been more expensive 13.5% in a year until touching the 14 euros. In Las Palmas that figure is exceeded after A 8.4% rise. Both far exceed € 5/m2 of the social program. This housekeeping housing has made access to the archipelago, a reality already verified by different organisms. He XIV Report The state of povertypresented last autumn in the Canarian Parliament, it reflects for example the percentage decrease in people residing in houses in their property in just a few years or how housing is already in a vulnerability factor. Images | Vidar Nordlii-Mathisen (UNSPLASH) In Xataka | If you have an empty house, pay twice the … Read more

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