UK tourists in Spain warned over crackdown on 'rule break' in major city

UK tourists have been issued an urgent Spain warning as an "illegal" holiday let has been shut down in a major city. Valencia is the latest city to introduce stricter controls and regulations, after a recent meeting between councillors and the Valencia Residents Federation.

The city's Urban Planning councillor, Juan Giner, said on Tuesday April 29 they had authorised 160 apartment closures. “The Valencia Policia Local is not handing out fines, but 160 orders for immediate closures,” he said. The City Council has closed down 160 unlicensed tourist apartments in a bid to curb their uncontrolled rise.

He added that since the Partido Popular took over running the council in June last year, 154 fines had been issued for illegal tourist apartments. Councillor Giner this week said the authorities would continue to amend the rules and regulations to curb the explosion in holiday apartments.

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The Valencia Residents Federation recently held a meeting with council officials and local officials it said on the ‘need for inspections and a moratorium on new tourist apartments’. “It is urgent to stop the avalanche we are suffering,” they said in a statement amid the crackdown.

“The Valencia Policia Local is not handing out fines, but 160 orders for immediate closures,” Giner revealed in a statement this week. Giner said that the authority will study changing urban planning rules with the aim of restricting "with legal certainty and well-defined regulations" as the clampdown takes place.

The councillor stressed it will continue to increase inspections and complaints about illegal apartments as UK tourists and holidaymakers are warned. “In just four months, the Policia Local has filed 166 complaints against owners of illegal holiday homes, more than double those that were filed in the whole of 2022 in which only 73 complaints were submitted”, he added in an alert.