Spain’s hottest city to unleash chaos on holiday homes in breach of one rule | World | News

Seville is regularly the hottest city in Spain, reaching temperatures of 40C or more in the summer – and the council has just decided to unleash the ultimate punishment on those operating tourist homes without a licence.

In a bid to stop this from happening, council bosses have warned that they will cut off the water supply to those in breach of the rules – and will sanction repeat offenders.

Concerns have been raised over the ethics of this decision as temperatures in Seville are often unbearably hot. With no access to water, this could cause serious problems for people trying to cope in the heat.

This is one of the most drastic measures agreed with the Andalusian Regional Government in an attempt to control tourism issues.

The Department of Tourism will review 715 declarations of responsibility sent by the City Council that do not comply with regulations. 

A minimum of ten declarations of change of use from private housing to tourist will be transferred higher up for review.

To speed up procedures, reports will be sent with certificates that determine the urban planning incompatibility. The Tourism Department will join the meetings held by the Municipal Urban Planning Management, where the Tourist Police are also represented.

A total of ten measures are being introduced to put an end to illegal tourist dwellings. Other measures include one by one reviews of licences and prioritising coexistence of tourism and the city’s residents.

José Luis Sanz, Mayor of Seville, posted on X about the new measures, he wrote: 

“We are implementing ten measures to put an end to illegal tourist dwellings. Some of them are:

• Cutting off the water supply to illegal ones and sanctioning repeat offenders.
• Request the withdrawal of 715 licences that do not comply with the regulations.
• Review one by one the licences granted after the modification of the PGOU.
• Act with firmness and zero tolerance in those cases in which they do not comply with the requirements set out in the regulations and are operating illegally.
• The coexistence between tourism, the city’s fundamental driving force, and the day-to-day life of the Sevillian people is and will continue to be a priority.”