Valencia city council is stepping up its clampdown on illegal holiday lets in the Mediterranean capital, with plans to limit short-term tourist rentals to just 2 percent of residential properties per neighbourhood.
Valencia's mayor, María José Catalá, last week announced a series of proposed measures to further combat the rise of tourist accommodation in the city.
For those neighbourhoods where the 2 percent figure has already been exceeded, such as in Ciutat Vella or El Cabanyal, there will be a total ban on new tourist rentals.
READ ALSO: Valencia to crack down on tourist flats in historic old town
This is not a new turn from the local authority. Valencia council last year began implementing restrictions on the use of residential properties as tourist flats in the old town, known as the Ciutat Vella, including the popular neighbourhoods of Pilar, Mercat, Carmen, La Seu and part of La Xerea.
These central areas have the greatest concentration of tourist rental flats in the city, and council estimates suggest that 10 percent of all residences there are now holiday homes. The council also pledged to stop issuing new licences to Airbnb-style lets for a year as average rents break the €1,000 barrier in the city.
The new regulations announced last week will, however, still allow some tourist accommodation in buildings exclusively for tourist purposes, Catalá said.
On the 2 percent cap, Catalá stated that “the council will approve the first step of a new regulation: only 2 percent of each neighbourhood may be tourist accommodation."
“In addition, we will only allow tourist accommodation in specific blocks of buildings,” she added. “Our war is against illegal tourist accommodation and especially when it’s in a community of neighbours.”
The mayor also strongly hinted that Valencia’s moratorium on new tourist rental licenses, passed last May and initially only valid for a year, would be extended.
This follows news that local police in Valencia saw a seven-fold increase in the number of illegal tourist apartments reported in 2024, with 620 compared to 84 in 2023.
The districts of Trànsits (166), Marítim (118), Patraix (112) and Ciutat Vella (110) were the ones with the highest number.
READ ALSO: Valencia police pile pressure on tourist flats with more stiff fines
Comments