The profitability of tourist ground floors transforms the Alicante neighbourhood of Carolinas Bajas

"Ground floor with independent entrance from the building, at street level." This is one of the advertisements on a well-known tourist accommodation platform in the heart of Alicante's Carolinas Bajas. The high profitability is transforming the area with numerous ground floors that were previously commercial spaces now converted into tourist apartments. On Sevilla Street alone, there are a dozen such properties currently operating as holiday homes.

The situation bothers residents, who criticise the noise and increased dirtiness that, they highlight, are generated by the tourist use of the homes. They fear that in the long run, it could end the little commercial fabric that remains in the neighbourhood.

"When the Campoamor market disappeared, many shops began to close. Sevilla and Poeta Zorrilla streets were commercial hubs years ago and now they are non-existent," explains Chimo García, president of the Carolines Baixes-Les Palmeretes Association.

For this neighbourhood leader, the Alicante City Council did not know how to commercially reconvert the area after the disappearance of the open-air market that brought life to the neighbourhood. "While other neighbourhoods like Pla have San Mateo Street, which has always been self-sufficient, here the shops needed support that was not provided," he explains. In fact, he criticises that the council does not include Carolinas Bajas in the revitalisation proposals made in the different neighbourhoods of the city. "After the disappearance of the Campoamor market, it has become a wasteland," García affirms.

The situation is considered to be worsening due to the high profitability generated by commercial ground floors used as tourist accommodations. For this neighbourhood leader, "shops have to compete with the acquisition of premises for this type of use, and that raises prices, which does not favour the establishment of new businesses."

The fear for many residents is that the pressure of this new type of business will end the little commerce that remains in the neighbourhood. "The abandonment of recent years has been compounded by the works on Jijona Street, which are taking longer than expected and also harm commerce," argues the neighbourhood leader.

Carolinas Bajas is one of the city's neighbourhoods identified as a high-pressure area for Tourist Use Dwellings (VUT), according to the 'Technical Study on Tourist Accommodations' prepared by the Alicante City Council. In the vicinity of Les Palmeretes Square, there are 8 VUTs for every 100 houses, making it a high-pressure area for this type of accommodation. This pressure is only surpassed by the Old Town and Santa Cruz, where one in five homes is destined for such uses.