The Valencia City Council has unanimously approved by all the municipal groups to suspend for one year the new licenses of tourist apartments in the city. The regulation, which will be a one-year moratorium, will not modify existing licenses, but will limit the number of licenses that can be granted from now on.
For one year, no new licenses may be processed or granted to construct or convert buildings into tourist apartments, although with some exceptions.
Buildings that are already used exclusively for commercial or service activities (tertiary use) are not affected by this suspension. Buildings that already have a license or declaration allowing them to have commercial activities on the second floor, and that have or can have a separate ticket from the street, will also not be affected.
The suspension applies to land where housing predominates and which is within the Zone called “Ciutat Central”, the central core of Valencia, and in certain areas of the city neighborhoods outside the “Ciutat Central” where there is a high presence of tourist housing, such as Benimàmet, Carpesa, Poble Nou, La Punta, El Palmar, El Saler and El Perellonet.
These restrictions will not apply in areas where commercial, service or industrial activities predominate. Nor will they be extended to land that already has a specific regulation for tourist housing, as in the special plans for Ciutat Vella and Cabanyal-Canyamelar.
The suspension will not affect license applications that were already in process and that comply with all legal requirements, as long as they were submitted prior to the publication of the agreement in the Diari Oficial de la Generalitat Valenciana (DOGV).
The suspension will apply to the new responsible declarations presented after the publication of the agreement in the DOGV. It will not affect returns filed prior to that date, provided all required documentation has been submitted.
The Plenary has also approved the continuation of the inspection plan for tourist homes, with special emphasis on the inspection of those located on the first floor.