Alicante has become serious with its tourist offer. The city, which so far this year received more than 600,000 visitors (taking into account only those staying in its hotels), has decided to close the tap on new licenses in “saturated” areas and setting a maximum rate that will be applied by neighborhoods. The measure just received the endorsement of the Government Board and still has a long way to go before passing through the municipal plenary session, but it points out the path that more and more cities are following.
The objective, as recognize the Alicante mayor, is to achieve a (complicated) “balance between the daily lives of residents and tourist activity.”
What has happened? That Alicante has decided to say enough is enough to the proliferation of tourist accommodation. It’s not the first time he’s done it. In December already advertisement a moratorium on the granting of licenses for vacation rentals in residential buildings, a measure that extended months later to buildings dedicated only to tourist apartments. Now its City Council has gone further: a few days ago launched its administrative machinery to modify its PGOU and regulate how and where the opening of new places for visitors will be allowed.
At the moment the proposal has received the endorsement of the Local Government Board. Once the change in the General Plan has obtained the necessary permits, the initiative will be submitted for approval by the Plenary of the City Council for its entry into force.
What do you want to do? Apply a series of guidelines that will determine where, when and under what conditions the accommodation offer in Alicante can be increased. At a general level, a maximum of 0.187 tourist places per inhabitant. From there, the tap will be turned off. For its application, the Consistory will take as reference the census sections of the municipality. That will be the unit you use to decide, for example, which areas are “saturated” or which can still accommodate new places without exceeding the threshold. The situation will be reviewed every year.
Is it the only measure? No. In neighborhoods that are already considered “saturated” at the outset (that is, those that exceed the limit of 0.187) new “tourist places” will not be allowed. In the statement In which the City Council announces the measure, it does not speak of flats, but of “squares” intended for visitors, in general. The only exception it provides is for the highest quality hotels: three, four and five stars.
In the first case (three-star businesses) there will also be a limit, but more lax: the limit after which new licenses will stop being granted will be 0.32 tourist places per inhabitant. Things will be different for higher-class establishments. Entrepreneurs interested in setting up four or five star hotels will not encounter limits, “even if the area in which they are located has reached the maximum permitted threshold,” confirm from the City Hall.
Map of saturated areas of Alicante.
Go into more details? Yes. The City Council wants to adopt two measures that will clearly determine where new tourist apartments can be opened. The first is to prohibit “the implementation of tourist uses on the ground floors of the main commercial roads.” That is, in these areas it does not matter whether or not the maximum limit of 0.187 beds/inhabitant has been reached: vacation rentals will be prohibited in the lower parts of the buildings.
The second measure is that this type of accommodation must have “independent access” if it is located in residential buildings. It is not something exceptional. Many other cities have promoted a similar rule in an attempt to facilitate coexistence between neighbors and visitors. If this mandatory condition is not met, the Alicante City Council already warns that it will not grant the municipal license.
What is the objective? in words of Mayor Luis Barcala (PP), achieve “sustainable tourism” and “the balance between the daily lives of residents and tourist activity.” “The city aims to attract visitors, but guaranteeing its sustainability: without compromising its model, exceeding the capacity of the territory or expelling the local population, guaranteeing that residents can continue living in their neighborhoods, access to housing, work and services.”
another of the objectives of the Consistory is to prioritize “quality over quantity”, “reducing pressure” and “promoting three, four and five star hotels”.
It is not the city’s first move in that direction. In December the City Council approved a two-year moratorium on the granting of new licenses for tourist apartments and in summer extended the suspension to apartment blocks intended for vacation rentals. The decision has been met with front rejection of the sector, which has even taken the issue to court.
Why is it important? First, because Alicante is one of the main tourist centers in the country. Second, because it is not the first (nor will it probably be the last) city that has applied such a measure in its tourist fabric.
In 2024 Madrid decided freeze the concession of licenses for tourist apartments, in Barcelona directly the City Council has proposed remove offer in the medium term and in other cities with a tourist ‘pull’, such as Seville, Malaga, Valencia either Santiago de Compostelathe institutions have also moved in one direction or another to regulate the supply. The reason: among others, the enormous pressure that offers vacation rentals in the urban residential market.
Images | Cale Weaver (Unsplash) and Alicante City Council
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings