Finestrat stops issuing new licenses for tourists accommodation

Due to rising demand and the fact that vacation rentals are more profitable than long-term rentals, there has been a notable surge in these types of rentals in the major Costa Blanca attractions in recent years.

Numerous city councils have previously attempted to limit this practice because many experts now identify it as one of the primary reasons for the astounding and unchecked increase in rental rates. Finestrat is the most recent to do so, having decided in a plenary session to halt the issuance of new licences until a new ordinance governing the industry is written.

When asked why the local government team came to this conclusion, Víctor Llinares, the Urban Planning Councillor for Finestrat, admitted that “everyone is aware of the proliferation of housing in this area and the problems that are sometimes arising from making this use compatible with residential use.”

In this sense, the council’s goal is to create order between these two regions, which are now hazy. It has been decided, according to Linares, to temporarily halt the granting of certificates “in order to study the draughting of an ordinance that specifically regulates in which areas and under what conditions certificates of compatibility for tourist use will be granted from now on.”

Thus, Finestrat joins other towns like Altea, l’Alfàs del Pi, and Polop in the Marina Baixa zone, which is one of the most popular tourist destinations along the entire Alicante coast, where permits are stopped.

Additionally, the plenary assembly in Benidorm on Monday, 31st March, approved giving the local police and the municipal inspection corps the authority that has previously been held by the regional governments to examine these accommodations and punish those who break these rules.