The Alicante City Council is moving forward with regulating tuk-tuks, which are tourist vehicles that have been operating in a legal grey area since they first appeared in the city more than two years ago. This has led to many complaints from residents and transportation professionals. The City Council has said that it wants to change the Pedestrian and Vehicle Traffic Ordinance so that the city may set rules on how these tourist vehicles should be used and keep an eye on them. The City Council made this announcement by publishing a preliminary consultation week week. Residents have been complaining about this service for months, and tuk-tuks were banned in the city’s Old Town in November 2025.
The paper says that the City Council’s goal is to stop tuk-tuks from causing “unfair competition” and “disorder in public space,” as well as to keep the city safe and orderly on the roads. The council thinks it is “necessary” to make certain rules that will let it deal with the growing number of these vehicles and control their movement in places with a lot of foot traffic, like the Old Town, tourist regions, and business districts.
A necessity for rules in the face of growth
The Alicante City Council talked about the issues it wants to fix at the first meeting about the proposed change to the traffic law. One of the main problems is that there isn’t a clear set of rules for tuk-tuk-type motorised tricycles, which aren’t covered by any of the rules that are already in place. This has made things “legally unclear for both operators and the public,” making it harder for the government to keep an eye on things and make sure that technical and safety standards are met.
The City Council has also pointed out how these cars have made it harder for people to get around and made the roads less safe. Tuk-tuks have caused traffic problems, made it harder for pedestrians to cross the street, and generated congestion in places with a lot of foot traffic or on tiny streets like those in the Old Town. So, the City Council thinks it’s “necessary” to control who can use these vehicles and how they can move around so that they don’t cause problems in public places.
The City Council, on the other hand, says that the lack of rules has led to “unfair competition” because tuk-tuks don’t have an authorisation system like taxis or public transportation have. Because these cars have been “intensively occupying” public space without any municipal supervision, there are now imbalances in how that space is used. This makes it imperative to set “clear and uniform rules.”
A step towards order
The City Council’s first consultation is meant to get individuals and groups that represent them involved in writing the new rules. People can share their thoughts on how tuk-tuks should be regulated in the future for 20 business days. The City Council expects that this will make the change to the ordinance as open and agreed upon as possible.
Luis Barcala, the mayor of Alicante, said in October that the City Council was working on rules just for tuk-tuks. Barcala said that the lack of clear rules had let these vehicles work with “advantages” over other tourism industries that had stringent rules. The Popular Party’s governing team is thinking about a few things, like whether tuk-tuks should need a special licence and if they should be able to show certain ads.
In addition, after months of complaints from citizens, the City Council agreed on November 10, 2025, to limit tuk-tuk access in the Old Town in compliance with the Low Emission Zone (LEZ) regulation. The tuk-tuk drivers had been breaking this rule, which the PP (People’s Party) administration and Vox had agreed to almost a year ago. They were driving in the Old Town with a city permit that didn’t work with the LEZ rules.
Constant complaints and critiques
Even though the City Council has tried to control tuk-tuk activities, the existence of these vehicles is still a hot topic in Alicante. People have been upset with tuk-tuks lately because they have been driving in places where they shouldn’t, like walkways in front of hotels, Postiguet Beach and the Explanada. These cars take tourists on tours of the city for rates between €49 for half an hour and €90 for a full hour. This alternative is great for tourists who don’t have a lot of time, but taxi drivers have complained about the lack of rules, saying that the tuk-tuks don’t have the right permissions to operate.
Also, those who live in the Old Town are unhappy that these cars are coming back to the region over Christmas, even though there have been recent restrictions. “Some residents say they’ve been seeing them for several days now, almost always at the same time.” They also say they’ve tried to warn vehicles about the restriction, but it doesn’t always work. Residents are upset about the issue and are asking the City Council to do more to keep these cars from coming back to Old Town.
Author: Derek Appleton
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