Complaints about illegal tourist homes (VUT) in Valencia, after police inspections, have increased by 23.5% in two years. According to municipal records, from 2021 to 2023 the number of complaints made based on police inspections has been increasing progressively. During 2021, 68 complaints were filed, another 73 in 2022 and a total of 84 in 2023.
In total there are 225 complaints filed with the VUT, which is why the Valencia City Council considers it “necessary” to train the agents in this very specific matter and that is why this Tuesday the first training day for the agents of the VUT was held. body, on specialization and inspection of this type of housing at the Local Police Headquarters.
The head of the Local Police, José Vicente Herrera, has stated that “this day arises from the meetings that the force holds periodically with neighborhood leaders.” Herrera has assured that “the police force will do everything possible to ensure legal security, coexistence and the right to rest of the residents of the city of Valencia.”
The City Council confirms that in recent years tourist apartments are generating problems of coexistence between tenants and the rest of the neighborhood. For this reason, since 2021, inspections have been carried out on these homes to avoid the illegal activity that occurs in this type of accommodation, and the complaints listed above are derived from these.
During the day, attendees will receive, among other subjects, training on the applicable legal regulations, the VUT scenario in the city of Valencia, the police action protocol, the various types of accommodation and the different infractions.
During the inauguration, the councilor for the Security and Mobility Area of ??the Valencia City Council, Jesús Carbonell, emphasized the “importance of promoting continuous training for police officers, especially on such a hot topic as apartment inspections. tourist”. Carbonell has highlighted that “it is necessary for the Local Police to generate trust in the neighborhood and to do so they must be aware of this situation and must be trained to be able to act in the best possible way.”
Mayor María José Catalá announced an ordinance and an inspection plan for irregular activity that the same council estimated at 4,000 homes in the city of Valencia. Last October, a working group was created through the Activity Licenses service and the Local Police to carry out inspections of illegal tourist apartments that also included leisure venues, after the tragedy that occurred at the Murcia nightclub.
The Department of Tourism headed by Nuria Montes is also working on regulations that want to involve city councils and communities of owners in the regulation of tourist homes.
