The Generalitat Valenciana has taken a decisive step towards regulating the holiday rental market. A total of 10,601 tourist apartments registered in the Valencian Community’s Tourism Register have been delisted. The main reason for this is the absence of a unified and individual cadastral reference. This measure is a direct consequence of the tightened regulations for tourist accommodation approved last August and aims to combat illegality in this sector.
Regulatory Pressure: Alicante, Castellón, and Valencia Provinces Most Affected
The cleaning of the register was carried out in several phases and affects all three provinces of the Valencian Community. In the province of Alicante, 7,438 tourist housing units were removed from the register in this second phase. This is followed by Castellón with 1,401 and the province of Valencia with 1,762 delistings. Already in March of this year, 886 holiday apartments were shut down because they could not provide a tax identification number (NIF).
Marián Cano, the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Commerce, and Tourism, emphasizes that these measures are part of a comprehensive process to clean up and update the database of the Tourism Register. In December 2024, the register already included over 101,200 apartments. Cano also announced a third phase of cancellations for the second half of June, which will affect another 7,800 apartments. By the beginning of summer, almost 20,000 cancellations are expected, affecting a total of approximately 34,000 tourist houses. The goal is to conscientiously apply the law and ensure a regulated supply in the tourism sector.
Transparency and Control: The Tourism Register as a Central Instrument
The Tourism Register of the Valencian Community plays a central role in managing and monitoring the tourism sector. It enables the administration to effectively carry out important tasks such as inspections, controls, verifications, programming, and planning. To ensure the efficiency of these activities, an always up-to-date register is essential.
The General Directorate of Tourism has therefore recognized the need to update essential data of holiday apartments. Missing information such as the tax identification number, telephone numbers, and email addresses of owners has significantly hindered electronic notifications and the processing of procedures in the past. The city of Valencia has already proactively responded to the uncontrolled expansion of holiday apartments and has imposed a moratorium on the issuance of new licenses. The number of holiday apartments in the city decreased by 1,500 between August 2024 and February of this year, underlining the effectiveness of such measures.
