A Spanish city will have to suspend local inspections and fines for illegal tourist flats. Alicante reportedly does not have enough inspectors to take over the responsibility from the regional government, delaying funds from going directly into the local council.
The city’s urban planning councilor, Rocio Gomez, admitted that transferring the regional powers over would take more time during a council meeting on Thursday, but a date was not specified, the Olive Press reports. She said an inspection department will be created before sending the request to devolve powers, arguing that having more inspectors would allow them to uphold better urban planning scrutiny across the municipality.
It comes as part of a crackdown on unregulated holiday lets across Spain, with locals raising concerns over a lack of affordable housing, as huge swathes have been purchased by investors to rent them out to tourists.
Around one-fifth of homes in popular tourist areas like the Old Town, San Juan beach, and the city centre are thought to be taken up by holiday accommodation.
According to a city council report published in January, nearly three-quarters of Alicante’s tourist flats are not registered.
Benidorm and Valencia City Councils have already taken over the responsibility from regional governments, which means the fines collected for illegal tourist lets go to local councils rather than the whole region.
There is currently a two-year ban on new tourist licences in Alicante, issued last December. During the moratorium, each district of Alicante will be studied to establish an appropriate number of holiday homes per neighbourhood.
Across the whole country, Spanish government called for the removal of the listings of nearly 66,000 properties on Airbnb in May on the grounds that they breach regulations for tourist accommodation.
The minister for social rights, consumer affairs and the 2030 Agenda, Pablo Bustinduy, said the rental properties had “violated various norms regarding housing for tourist use”.
This story originally appeared on Express.co.uk
