A report from Alicante City Council estimates a “positive economic impact” on municipal revenue accounts of 8,845,650 euros over the five budget years, after assuming the powers to inspect tourist apartments and sanction possible infractions.
The PP government team wants to bring the proposal to the Urban Planning Commission this Friday and to the regular plenary session in January. It would be to follow the framework agreement between the Generalitat (through the Ministry of Innovation, Industry, Commerce and Tourism) and the Valencian Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FVMP) to start, process, and resolve sanctioning procedures for minor, serious, and very serious violations of tourist accommodation (VUT) rules in the city.
“This agreement is another step in our plan to control and organise tourism in Alicante,” said Manuel Villar, the city’s deputy mayor, in a statement on Tuesday.
He also said that giving the council the right to punish anyone who breaks the rules about VUT (Vacation Rental Tourism) would provide them “all the means to control irregularities in this area and stop this business from growing illegally in Alicante.”
Villar said that giving the city the power to punish people “adds to other steps the Alicante City Council has already taken to make sure that tourist activities in the city are sustainable and compatible.” These steps include a moratorium on granting licenses to VUTs and the processing of the specific modification number 52 of the General Urban Development Plan (PGOU), which sets new rules for tourist accommodations in the city.
Information
The Alicante council says that the proposal to join this agreement has a five-year time frame and is backed by a positive report from the Economy and Finance Service on budget stability and a report from the municipal legal service that confirms that “there is no legal barrier to the processing and approval of the proposed agreement.”
He also mentioned that another report from the technical department of Inspections, Sanctions, and Conservation of Buildings, which is part of the Department of Urban Planning, looks at “the current situation of the department and the workload, the impact that the assumption of the new powers would entail, the need for newly incorporated personnel, and a forecast of the economic impact on the municipal budget of income and expenses.”
The report says that “418 urban planning violation proceedings were started in VUT (Vacation Rental Housing) between 2023 and 2025, and that in 80 percent of the cases, the violations were confirmed with inspection reports and orders to stop activity.”” The City Council says that in 90% of these situations, “a sanctioning procedure is initiated.”
20% increase in workload
The technical department of Inspections, Sanctions, and Conservation of Buildings would have to do more work if they followed the agreement. They estimate that the deal would mean 20% more work for them.
He went on to say, “Based on the information we have and the seriousness of the violations found by the Local Police’s Urban Planning and Discipline Unit, the report estimates that the municipal revenue budget will see a positive economic impact of 8,845,650 euros over the five budget years of delegation of powers included in the agreement.”
In this regard, he said that “the estimated impact on the expenditure budget is zero,” because the report says that “the staff to be incorporated into the department does not imply an increase in the budgeted staff, but rather a redistribution of existing staff and those pending incorporation into the ongoing selection processes.”
The City Council has made it clear that “adherence to the agreement will be discussed at the Urban Planning Committee meeting this Friday, December 23, and the full council will vote on it next week.” They ended by saying, “If the full council approves it, the application for adherence will be sent to the General Directorate of Tourism.”
Author: Derek Appleton
Other Articles
No Comment! Be the first one.