Alicante's San Antón Neighbourhood Demands Crackdown on Illegal Tourist Apartments

"It's not that difficult to identify which apartments are illegal tourist rentals," says Celia Martínez, president of the San Antón neighbourhood association in Alicante. In their case, the association has compiled a list by walking through a neighbourhood with just over 10 streets and then cross-referenced it with the Generalitat's database on holiday homes.

For Martínez, the issue is not the type of use, but those who do so without the proper authorisation and illegally. With this list, they have forwarded the information to the Tourism and Urban Planning departments, although they are currently unaware if any measures have been taken.

The San Antón neighbourhood association has long been denouncing not only these unlicensed apartments but also other practices of questionable legality. Martínez insists that it is becoming common practice in the neighbourhood to carry out cosmetic renovations on dilapidated houses to have a property ready for a tourist platform in a few weeks. "We've seen an entire house built in 10 days; it was a property we had already requested to be demolished, and now it has been given a facelift and is being rented out," explains the neighbourhood leader about a particular case.

According to their complaints, in some cases, tourists are unaware of the illegal practices. This resident claims that in the case of this property, they don't even have running water; instead, it has a tank that is filled with a hose from another adjacent property owned by the same owner, she details.

Faced with these and other practices, residents have expressed their concern. "It's completely illegal, and we are tired of lodging complaints with the authorities, and they don't act; we don't know why, even when there are complaints," explains Martínez. They fear that some of these houses could pose a danger to tourists or neighbours living next door. They also protest against "impunity." "We managed to halt construction next to my house; they put up the seal, and then they removed it and continued with the works," says the president.

In fact, the neighbourhood association believes that increasing inspections and sanctions would be a great measure to end illegal holiday apartments. They insist that tough measures must be taken against those who violate the regulations. "If they rent them out without a licence, they should be fined and forced to put them on long-term rental; this would solve the problem of illegal rentals and rising rents," she concluded.

In recent months, the Alicante City Council has opened a hundred infraction reports and processed the corresponding suspension of activity files for tourist apartments that did not comply with the regulations. Most of the suspension files opened focus on unlicensed tourist apartments located in San Juan beach and the central area of Alicante. Urban Planning reminds that to carry out the activity, it is not enough to be registered with the Tourism Department; one must obtain urban compatibility and the corresponding activity licence.

"We encourage Alicante residents to report any tourist activity they suspect is being carried out irregularly, as they, along with Local Police officers, are our eyes to monitor this activity in each neighbourhood," states the government team.

After confirming through inspection that tourist activity is being conducted in an apartment without the corresponding licence, the City Council notifies the owner of the suspension order. If they continue, the apartment is sealed.

The imposition of sanctions currently falls to the Consell, but it is expected that the competence will be transferred to the Alicante City Council shortly. The open files correspond to VUTs that had been previously reported and also to those registered in the Generalitat's census, but whose urban compatibility has been declared unfit by the Urban Planning Department.