Valencia on Monday May 25th saw a new set of housing regulations enter into force, designed to put an end to what the city council describes as a “free-for-all” for tourist flats in the city in recent years.
Valencia has like many Spanish cities suffered from mass tourism and tourist accommodation hollowing out the housing market.
In yet another new measure, now the local council is trying a new cap on properties.
The regulation, described as “the most restrictive in Spain”, formally came into force 15 days after its publication, which means that the moratorium on licences in force for the last two years has also now expired.
The moratorium, unanimously approved by Valencia city council in 2024, halted the granting of licences for new tourist accommodation in the city and has now been overturned by the High Court of Justice of the Valencian Community (TSJCV).
A Valencian court in April overturned the ban but the council has now launched another measure to try and combat the proliferation of tourist flats – both legal and illegal – in the city.
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The headline figure is that under the new rules, only 2 percent of homes in each neighbourhood may be used as tourist apartments, whilst the remaining 98 percent must be residential.
The change was approved by a council plenary session on 31 March, with the right-wing Popular Party (PP) and Vox voting in favour and Compromís and the Socialists voting against.
The PP-Vox council blames the previous Compromís administration for letting tourist flats get out of control in the city.
“We have moved from the free-for-all and lack of control under the previous administration to regulation, balance and the curbing of illegal activity. With the new regulations, opening a tourist apartment in Valencia becomes an almost impossible task,’ said the Councillor for Urban Planning and Housing, Juan Giner.
The new regulations establish three thresholds that apply cumulatively in each neighbourhood, district and housing block, with the exception of Ciutat Vella (the old town) which has its own set of rules due to the high concentration of tourist accommodation.
The first limits the total number of tourist accommodation units of any kind (hotels, apartment blocks and holiday homes) to a maximum of 8 percent of the registered population in the neighbourhood and district.
The second ensures that no more than 2 percent of the housing stock in each neighbourhood and district may be used for tourist accommodation, whilst the third protects local shops and business by setting a cap of 15 percent of tourist accommodation out of the total number of ground-floor premises on each block.
Any tourist accommodation in the city must now meet all three criteria simultaneously to obtain a licence from the town hall.
