Benidorm takes on inspection and sanctioning of the city's tourist accommodations

Benidorm has today assumed the responsibility for inspecting the compliance of tourist accommodations with current regulations and, if necessary, sanctioning those owners who violate these regulations. This was approved by the municipal plenary session in today's ordinary meeting, where the tourist capital's adherence to the framework agreement signed on December 13 by the Generalitat Valenciana, through the Ministry of Innovation, Industry, Commerce and Tourism, and the Valencian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FVMP) to assume these competencies was ratified.

The proposal was passed with the support of the 16 local government councillors and the Vox councillor, against seven abstentions from the socialist municipal group, making the city one of the first in the region, alongside Valencia, to undertake this inspection role.

The Urban Planning Councillor and local government spokesperson, Lourdes Caselles, explained that the Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Law approved by the regional government of PSOE and Compromís in 2018 already introduced the possibility for municipalities to carry out these inspections, "with the difference that previously municipalities were tasked with all the work except for the collection, which was done by the Generalitat itself; whereas now, with the latest amendment, municipalities will be allowed to collect the fines imposed" on unregulated tourist accommodations.

Caselles stated that "there have already been several meetings between technicians from the Ministry and interested municipalities to ensure this delegation is effective as soon as possible" and that once the competencies are assumed, the City Council will have to produce "a quarterly report on the complaints filed, the procedures initiated, their resolutions and whether they are sanctioning or not, and the fines imposed that are collected in the municipal coffers."

Furthermore, to better carry out this function, the Urban Planning Councillor explained that the Architecture Department "is working on an ordinance to regulate tourist accommodations and to provide security and strengthen this type of tourist lodging as long as the regulations are met" and also recalled that the City Council will strengthen the Local Police force by calling for 20 new positions, ensuring "more material and personnel resources."

The Corporation's plenary session also unanimously approved the final text of the Cooperation Agreement for the Financing of Improvements and Replacement of the Sanitation and Wastewater Treatment Facilities of the Municipality of Benidorm, an agreement that will bring an investment of 14,520,000 euros to these facilities and will address deficiencies in electrical and structural installations of the wastewater pumping stations (EBARs) and resolve the reform needs of Benidorm's current wastewater treatment plant (EDAR), particularly its old line (Line B) and the sludge line.

The Water Cycle Councillor, José Ramón González de Zárate, noted that thanks to this agreement, of the total investment "only 10% will be paid by the city of Benidorm, while the rest will be financed by EPSAR." Thus, the regional entity will assume 13,068,000 euros and the remaining 1,452,000 will be covered by the City Council.

The councillor recalled that, unlike many other treatment plants, the EDAR is a municipally owned infrastructure and that the city has been "waiting for many years for these works and demanding their execution," but lamented that the previous regional administration, formed by PSOE and Compromis, "did not want to invest a single euro" in this treatment plant.

Regarding the works to be carried out as a result of this agreement, González de Zárate listed the reform of the electrical installations of Benidorm's wastewater pumping stations (EBAR); the reform and repair of the EBAR at Parque de Elche; the improvement of the old water treatment line (Plant No.2) of the EDAR; the improvement of the sludge treatment line at the EDAR; as well as the adaptation of the personnel, control, and workshop building of this treatment plant.