Benidorm and Torrevieja Lead Requests to the Consell for Inspecting and Fining Tourist Apartments

It has been over a month since, on August 7th, the Consell approved the decree-law regulating tourist apartments in the Comunitat, although it was only a little over a week ago that it was passed in Les Corts. The new regulation aims to curb the proliferation of illegal accommodations and exercise greater control over vacation apartments by transferring powers to municipalities.

The regulation has been well received in the province of Alicante, which hosts a large portion of the apartments in the entire autonomous region, nearly 73,000 out of the 105,111 registered in the Comunitat in 2024, according to data from the Department of Tourism.

The new regulation will grant, among other powers, authority to inspect and sanction municipalities, thereby exercising greater control over this type of accommodation which is so hotly debated with the underlying issue of housing access. Two municipalities in the province have been the first formal applicants for these powers, although the government led by Luis Barcala has already announced that it has begun procedures to request them as well.

According to sources from the Department of Tourism, Benidorm and Torrevieja are the first councils in the Comunitat, and therefore in the province, to formally and officially request the transfer of powers in matters of tourist housing, as outlined in the Consell's decree-law.