Alex Trelinski
SEVILLA City Council plans to cut off water supplies to around 5,000 unlicensed tourist flats in the continuing battle against unregulated holiday accommodation.
It has come up with the 5,000 figure by cross-referencing online rental platforms and the total also includes properties which have broken other rules.
But the practicality of checking the homes before pulling the water plug is a different matter due to a lack of inspectors.
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The authority says 10 properties will be checked every week, which means assuming inspection team numbers don’t rise, then it will take until the end of the decade for the process to be completed.
Opposition parties on the Partido Popular-led council say the water supply measure is just a gimmick, as it refused two months ago to stop granting new tourist housing licences, meaning ‘touristification’ suffered by city centre residents will continue to rise.
Sevilla Urban Planning sources told the El Pais newspaper: “Those 5,000 irregular homes include those on the municipal registry which flout the obligation to be on a ground or first floor, or certain design conditions, along with unregistered properties that advertise rentals.”
Sevilla mayor, Jose Luis Sanz, said: “We will act with zero tolerance over illegal tourist flats with more control and firmness over sanctions e after years of looking the other way”.
The council also pledged to tackle the issue in the city centre and the Triana district.
Andalucia is the region with the most tourist rentals in Europe, with 117,000 homes and 620,000 beds.
Complaints from residents about the problems caused by mass tourism have skyrocketed this year with record number of visitors and politicians have been trying to respond.
Powers given by the regional government to councils to limit tourist flats include the cutting of water and electricity, but dealing with power is more complex due to the many different providers in the sector.
