Alex Trelinski
THE Valencian government will tighten controls on holiday accommodation lets in the region with changes coming into force ‘probably before the summer season.
The measures will include more inspections in a bid to stop unregulated tourist housing and a ban on properties keeping licences after they are sold.
The government says the number of approved tourist properties in the region is around 120,000.
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Tourism Minister, Nuria Montes, said: “Holiday housing continues to be a fundamental element in our tourism ecosystem, but are concerned what is actually being advertised online could be more than double what is permitted.”
“Every day rooms are offered for rent inside tourist homes which is completely prohibited and will never be allowed in Valencian law, with all offenders facing prosecution,” Montes warned.
“The new law will look to control the underground economy, and not licensed tourist housing that is not a problem,” the minister added.
Montes promised that ‘significant’ powers will be devolved to local councils to deal with the issue as they see fit.
“There will be municipalities that wish not to prohibit, but to limit, freeze or not give more licences, because they consider that they have already reached a sufficient capacity,” she explained.
Inspections will include ‘innovative measures’ deploying artificial intelligence and collaboration with agencies to ‘harshly punish the underground economy’.
The Valencia region has 11 tourist home inspectors, with Montes pointing out that in the 10 months the current Partido Popular-Vox government has been in power, inspections have doubled to over 1,200.
The new law will also simplify administrative procedures to stop towns halls from ‘collapsing’.
