City mayor María José Catalá announced at the end of last week that this was the decision she wanted to take now she has received the support of all the parties that make up the local government.
The suspension will affect anyone wanting to rent out temporary accommodation to visitors, specifically located in buildings of other homeowners and commercial spaces. It will not affect apartments in buildings where all the accommodation has been reserved for tourists.
In the old fishermans' neighbourhood of El Cabanyal and in the historic centre of the Ciutat Vella, these licences have already been suspended, but now the rule will apply to the entire city and surround areas, including El Palmar, El Saler and El Perellonet, Benimàmet, Carpesa, Poble Nou, and La Punta.
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It’s important to note that this new ruling will not affect anyone who has been issued a tourist licence already, this is only for anyone applying for one for the first time. It will also not affect hotels, entire apartment blocks or tourist apartments planned on the first floors with independent access.
The Town Hall has cited the reason for its decision is down to "uncontrolled growth at the expense of the housing stock, which threatens to break the balance that guarantees that Valencia is a city to live in with a quality urban environment”.
The amount of tourist accommodation in the city has also caused rental costs to skyrocket, creating problems for the local population who are struggling to be able to afford to live in the centre.
Valencia has just registered the highest rental prices ever recorded, after costs rose a total of 19.14 percent in just one year, according to the Report on the Valencia Real Estate Market for the first quarter of 2024 by the College of Real Estate Agents (COAPI).
The average rental cost is now up to €13.50 per square metre, meaning the average monthly price exceeds €1,000. In two of the most popular areas - l'Eixample and Ciutat Vella, the average rental price already exceeds €2,000 per month.
The most expensive neighbourhood to rent in is Eixample, with an average of €2,030, compared to €1,132 for the cheapest area of Jesús.
The study also revealed that home purchase and sale prices, which have increased by 10.61 percent in one year with an average of €2,130 per square metre, are the highest they’ve been since 2009.
Spokesperson for COAPI Valencia, Vicente Díez, showed his concern for the market saying that the situation is "more than worrying and alarming".
Valencia is not the only Spanish city that has suspended granting licences due to overtourism and issues with availability of housing.
Barcelona hasn’t issued any new licences since around 2015 and San Sebastián in the Basque Country has had its ruling in place since March 2023. The town of Altea in Alicante also suspended them earlier this year.
Many cities also have imposed restrictions on tourist accommodation, either in certain areas or in particular types of buildings, including Madrid, Toledo, Seville, Palma de Mallorca and Tarifa.
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