Sueña Torrevieja calls for greater control over the proliferation of tourist homes

More and more apartment owners in Torrevieja are choosing to make their second homes profitable and convert them into tourist homes. A proliferation of this offer that, for the municipal group Sueña Torrevieja, requires greater control by the Local Police. The group headed by Pablo Samper has submitted to the next plenary session a motion aimed at safeguarding the quality of life of residents and preserving the integrity of the local hotel sector.

The Sueña Torrevieja proposal urges the City Council to establish a specific police unit, in collaboration with the Civil Guard, to control compliance with the law in the operation of the city's tourist activities. In this way, they say, the registration and legal use of tourist homes could be verified, as well as investigate complaints of possible fraudulent activities.

This unit, they defend, would make it possible to combat the fraudulent offer of tourist accommodation that may affect coexistence with local residents and communities of owners, as well as to combat intrusion in the hotel sector.

In addition, the municipal group proposes the drafting of an ordinance that regulates and controls fraudulent activities in this type of accommodation. Inspection visits are also requested to verify compliance with the legal conditions of homes for tourist use, including the permitted capacity.

Worrying levels

Samper highlights that these measures seek to prevent tourist apartments from becoming clandestine operations that do not comply with urban planning and tax regulations. The mayor also points out that the proliferation of tourist accommodation in the city has reached worrying levels, with Torrevieja positioning itself as the first city in the province of Alicante and the seventh in Spain in the number of this type of housing.

Data from the National Institute of Statistics (INE), says Samper, reveal that approximately 11% of tourist homes in all of Spain are located in the province of Alicante. However, the opposition councilor emphasizes, a distinction is not made between legal and illegal ones, but rather all those offered on the main portals, which underlines the need for more effective control measures.

The spokesperson for Sueña Torrevieja emphasizes the importance of establishing control mechanisms to prevent future problems, especially considering the high number of applications for tourist homes that are presented each month in plenary session.