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Bed and Breakfast Regulations?

Bed and Breakfast Regulations?

Old Jan 24th 2008, 12:41 pm
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Smile Bed and Breakfast Regulations?

Hi All
I am hoping someone could help me and point me in the right direction. My husband and myself are planning to start up a small bed and breakfast in Galicia in the next couple of years (Near Friol in Lugo) but before that we need to update/renovate our property. I assume there are regulations we will need to adhere to?

I am wondering if they vary according to number of bedrooms etc? Where are the boundaries between guest houses/hotels? Also should I be talking to the town council or are there national/regional regulations?

For example I'd hate to put in 5 guest rooms and find that we need much more rigorous measures in place for fire escapes/ kitchen equipment/fire alarms than if we had put in 4 bedrooms.

I don't expect a detailed answer, there's bound to be lots of regulations, but a website or book (written in English) would be much appreciated. Finally, before anyone asks, yes I do intend to learn to speak Spanish, its on my 'to do' list!
thanks
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Old Jan 24th 2008, 4:19 pm
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Default Re: Bed and Breakfast Regulations?

There is a book called "Starting a Business in Spain" by Guy Hobbs that has a chapter on B&Bs etc.
Otherwise your first port of call should be your town hall and a local architect who specialises in this sort of thing.
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Old Jan 26th 2008, 4:36 pm
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Default Re: Bed and Breakfast Regulations?

We run a casa rural here in Galicia.
The rules for running one here is very different to the regulations in the U.K.
The first step would be to contact the Xunta’s office in Lugo. They deal with all matters for Tourism. Here they will give you the necessary paperwork. However it will only be in Castelaño or Gallego. Nothing like that is produced in English here. (Note most official paperwork/letters these days are only written in Gallego).
You should also note that the Xunta regulate most forms of vacation accommodation here. Right from Paradores, Hotels, casa rurals, camping sites down to hostels.
Regulations extend from fire regulations right through to the size of the rooms. Once in operation you will find other regulations also prevail like room temperatures and classification of your establishment. You will need a health plan and a certificate to show that you know how to handle food. All of this will be done in either of the two aforementioned languages.
We bought our house up and running because of all of the paperwork and rules involved. We understand the previous owners had to do a lot of running around chasing paperwork and permissions. That was not for us!
One thing is we understand that there could be grants for renovation old houses into Casa Rurals so you should look into that too.
It is not fair that estate agents advertise houses for sale in Galicia that are suitable for conversion into Hotels or Casa Rurals without explaining the rules.

If you want more information then PM us.
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Old Jan 31st 2008, 3:14 pm
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Default Re: Bed and Breakfast Regulations?

Although the OP has not returned to this forum sine the 25th January. We thought we would add the following information for anyone else that is thinking about opening a Casa Rural or similar here in Galicia.
An association, (who we have to belong to), recently sent us a list of Laws governing such establishments.
Obviously if your want to purchase an up and running Casa then you will not need to know about some of these laws as they deal with the construction/restoration of the building.
We have not done any research as to links on the web. But it seems that if you have any questions if is advisable to obtain the services of an architect who is conversant with these laws, a solicitor may be a good too.
There are of course options;
1)To go illegal and risk being closed down and maybe fined or at worse loosing everything.
2) Choose an area of Spain where the holiday accommodation is not so heavily regulated. (Note that some laws stated are country wide)
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Old Mar 5th 2008, 12:30 pm
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Default Re: Bed and Breakfast Regulations?

Sorry this is a belated response but thank-you for your comments. As an update we are still in the process of buying the property (current estimate is completion in May/June - 7-8 months from our initial offer) and so we are beginning to get an idea of how swiftly the spanish legal system moves (or not!).
As long as we get it sorted before we become of pensionable age (we are both mid forties) I believe it will be worth the wait.
Mike (from the Newbies to Galicia thread) good luck in your search, we have definately fallen for the many charms of Galicia.

If we ever get up and running we shall be sure to send potential Llama trekers in your direction. We are planning on trying to run a smallholding at the same time so if all else fails I guess we can always live on a diet of sweet chestnuts as the galicians used to.

Nicky
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Old Mar 5th 2008, 1:52 pm
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Default Re: Bed and Breakfast Regulations?

Originally Posted by Nosherlot
Sorry this is a belated response but thank-you for your comments. As an update we are still in the process of buying the property (current estimate is completion in May/June - 7-8 months from our initial offer) and so we are beginning to get an idea of how swiftly the spanish legal system moves (or not!).
As long as we get it sorted before we become of pensionable age (we are both mid forties) I believe it will be worth the wait.
Mike (from the Newbies to Galicia thread) good luck in your search, we have definately fallen for the many charms of Galicia.

If we ever get up and running we shall be sure to send potential Llama trekers in your direction. We are planning on trying to run a smallholding at the same time so if all else fails I guess we can always live on a diet of sweet chestnuts as the galicians used to.

Nicky
We thought you had given up.
To be honest we did not find the system that slow. But everyone has there own experience.
BTW we still eat chestnuts, there are delicious. One of the best drinks we make is Liquor de Castañas.
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Old Mar 5th 2008, 8:29 pm
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Default Re: Bed and Breakfast Regulations?

Hi Nicky,

All the very best with your venture.

We are just looking forward to getting over there now and finding our next home. We have managed to find several properties with between 6 and 10 Acres of land for the llamas but we intend to spend 12 months getting ourselves sorted out first before we start the B&B and trekking side of life up. We have also decided to continue breeding the llamas as it is fun and is classed as farming in Spain, so having read through all the list of documents (in the attachment given below – very useful and has made very interesting reading this evening) will probably try and go for a Group C type - Agro Tourism setup. I am surprised at how small the minimum size the bedrooms and bathroom must be, but that should help us as we were looking at guest bedroom sizes of around the 25- 30 sq mtr mark.

Really looking forward to getting the trekking side of things going. In the picture the pure white male llama on the right of the shot is a 6’ 450lbs stud male who can easily drag 2 x 15 stone men across a field quite easily (he has done that twice now) but is as tame as they come (does not like other male llamas going near his females though!!!) the youngster next to him is a six month old.

How long does the sale cycle normally take (without any complications)?

Regards, Mike L
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