Police in Valencia are clamping down on illegal tourist accommodation in the Mediterranean city.
This follows a request from the local council to put pressure on tourist flats operating without the proper licences, with the number of fines increasing exponentially in the last year.
As of early June a total of 301 fines had been handed in the coastal city, which means that so far this year fines have increased by 358 percent compared to the same period in 2023.
In 2022 just 73 fines were handed out, and in 2023 there were 84. The areas of the city with the most fines were Trànsits, the old town (known as Ciutat Vella in Valencian), Marítim and Russafa, the trendy nightlife district many locals feel is falling foul of gentrification.
The Federation of Neighbourhood Associations of Valencia (FAAVV) has demanded that local authorities hike up the fines for illegal tourism apartments in the city. The current bracket is €600 for minor offences and €4,000 for serious infractions, not enough to dissuade some landlords, they argue.
READ ALSO: Valencia to crack down on tourist flats in historic old town
Valencia city council recently approved plans to crack down on the use of residential properties as tourist housing in the historic centre in Ciutat Vella, which includes the picturesque neighbourhoods of Velluters, Pilar, Mercat, Carmen, La Seu and La Xerea. Council estimates suggest that 10 percent of all properties there are now used for tourist rentals.
The council has also unanimously voted to suspend new licences for tourist accommodation for at least a year, as average rents in the city are now over €1,000 a month.
READ ALSO: Valencia to stop issuing licences to Airbnb-style lets as rents soar past €1,000
According to figures reported by Spanish daily El País, more than 3,500 tourist flats have opened in Valencia in the last year alone. However, as in almost all major cities across Spain, there are also many thousands of unlicensed tourist properties.
This comes amid growing anti-tourism sentiment in Spain, with protests in Madrid, Barcelona, Málaga and the Balearic and Canary Islands in recent months. Locals argue the increase in platforms such as Airbnb inflates the local rental market and prices locals out of their own neighbourhoods.
In June, Barcelona mayor Jaume Collboni announced that the Catalan capital would attempt to 'eliminate' all tourist rental flats from the city by 2029 by not renewing licences for 10,000 properties in the city.
Local media in Valencia reports that the number of fines in Spain's third city has soared due to an 'inspection plan' deployed by the council of mayor María José Catalá. Valencia's urban planning councillor Juan Giner recently stated in a plenary session that police had sanctioned 166 illegal flats in just four months.
However, what is striking about this rapid increase in fines is not only their growing number but the geographical spread across almost all areas of Valencia, including those that are not traditionally tourist areas but increasingly targeted by property speculators.
The problem is becoming widespread enough in Spain that the national government is now toying with the idea of regulation.
Spain's Minister of Housing and Urban Agenda, Isabel Rodríguez, announced recently that the government is studying a reform of the Horizontal Property Law in order to allow property owners to veto tourist apartments in their residential buildings.
In Spain, each building has what’s known as a community of neighbours, referred to as la comunidad in Spanish, and essentially the Spanish government is considering allowing them veto power over tourist apartments in their buildings.
READ ALSO: Spain considers banning tourist lets in residential buildings
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