Alicante Accelerates Tourist Apartment Control and Sanction Strategy

The Alicante City Council aims to have full control over the regulation, inspection and sanctioning capacity regarding tourist apartments, so much so that the governing team from the PP has already completed the first steps to request the transfer of these specific powers, anticipating its intention to adhere to this option together with a consultation on the requirements that are necessary to assume them, as set out in Decree Law 9/2024 approved by the Consell in July, now pending ratification in les Corts, although its entry into force occurred on the same day of publication in the DOCV, on August 7.

The request made through the Department of Urban Planning is one of the first registered with the Department of Innovation, Industry, Trade and Tourism, which has already received requests for information and enquiries from other municipalities in the Valencia region.

With the delegation of powers, the Alicante City Council will not only have the capacity to order and decide from an urban planning point of view in which areas of the urban centre and under what specific conditions (complete block or isolated property) the operation of a tourist apartment may be authorised. This is provided for in article 64 bis of the Decree Law, which specifies that “the City Councils, for compelling reasons of general interest, and through the exercise of their urban planning powers, may establish proportionate limitations, with regard to the maximum number of tourist dwellings per building, sector, area or zone. These limitations must obey clear, unequivocal and objective criteria, which have been duly publicised prior to their application”.

This power will now be supplemented by the ability to strengthen the fight against illegal supply by directly exercising the inspection function. Furthermore, it will also be able to initiate, instruct and resolve sanctioning proceedings in the event that possible minor, serious or very serious infringements are detected.