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Date Published: 03/12/2024

Alicante blocks new tourist apartment licences for 2 years

The temporary freeze on new holiday homes aims to strike a balance between tourists and locals in Alicante city

Several municipalities in Alicante province have already taken steps towards improving the imbalance between a flood of holiday lets and a lack of long-term rentals. Up until now, Alicante city itself has been slow to take the leap but that’s all about to change, as the council has announced a suspension on new licences for two years.

This two-year moratorium on tourist apartments and houses will give the council time to review and update its regulations. Above all, mayor of Alicante Luis Barcala explained on Monday December 2, the authorities need to determine the impact of holiday homes “on the urban and social fabric of the city.”

The resulting new measures should ensure “balanced and sustainable tourist growth and at the same time contribute to favouring the access of Alicante residents to housing, which is one of our priorities,” he added.

The decision comes after a thorough analysis by the University of Alicante and specialist company EOSA, which highlighted the need for limits on tourist housing density by area.

These limits will be based on factors such as public service capacity, preservation of residential character and balance between tourist activities and local needs.

The temporary two-year freeze will apply to the entire city, suspending the processing and granting of new licences, declarations and certificates for tourist use housing. This will give the council time to integrate these limits into the municipal plan.

While the moratorium won’t necessarily be popular with prospective landlords, it all ties in with Alicante City Council’s long-term goal of making housing more accessible to its residents.

To achieve this, the council is working on plans to build 6,000 new homes, with 30-40% of these being protected housing. Additionally, the council has offered the Generalitat eight municipal plots of land for the construction of approximately 265 homes under the Vive Plan.

In the meantime, the council will continue to conduct inspection campaigns and issue suspension reports for rental properties operating without a licence or failing to comply with regulations. This is part of a broader effort to ensure that the tourism industry works in harmony with the needs of local residents.

In other news: Pricey property: Experts predict house prices in Spain will skyrocket in 2025

Image: Acediscovery via Wikimedia Commons

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