BENIDORM City Council has pocketed over €100,000 from its first fines against illegal tourist accommodation since assuming local enforcement powers last year.
Prior to that point, the Valencian government were in charge and kept all revenues that were accrued.
Benidorm’s Commerce councillor, Javi Jorda, said the first four fines stemmed from initial penalties of €50,001 each.
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They were halved after the offenders accepted they had broken the law and agreed to pay promptly.
Since assuming the new responsibilities in mid-2025, the council has receive 70 complaints covering 196 tourist rentals.
Of these, 107 properties had the Tourist Accommodation (VUT) registration issued by the Valencian government and were compliant with the law.
An additional 73 are still under inspection and 16 owners face fines.
In addition to the four fines already paid, another 12 proposed sanctions remain in various stages of processing, including the submission of appeals or documentation by the property owners.
Javi Jorda explained that processing cases can take several months to ensure that inspections are carried out and that the rights of everybody involved are protected.
Proceedings begin after complaints are filed by individuals or homeowners’ associations.
Benidorm’s Policia Local then carry out on-site inspections, while the Department of Commerce is responsible for preparing and processing the administrative files.
The council must submit a quarterly report to the regional government, detailing the results of inspections that have been carried out.
The most recent report, dated June 30, only includes one of the four fines already collected, as the other three were issued during July.
The council assumed the powers of inspection and sanctions on illegal accommodation under a Valencian 2024 law which allowed individual municipalities to assume responsibility for inspections, sanctions and fines.
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