SPAIN: Valencia To Ban Airbnbs From Selling The Best Views

A group of residents of Valencia, Spain, are supporting a bill that would ban tourists from booking the rooms in town with the best views.

Valencia city hall is considering a new tourism law that would limit private rentals like Airbnbs to the ground and second floor levels of apartment buildings.

The law would essentially ban all private home rentals that offer a view of Valencia’s coastline and historic buildings.

It would also ban tourist rentals from the historic heart of the city and allow holiday rentals to be regulated on a zone-by-zone basis, according to The Local Spain.

Locals have complained that Valencia’s tourism boom is pricing locals out of the city’s most desirable neighborhoods.

With this new legislation, councils can take back control of what properties may be used for, and in Valencia we are going to impose an important barrier to ensure the trend does not grow in future, Sandra Gomez, the deputy mayor of Valencia, said in a statement.

Valencia is just the latest in a string of European cities that are fighting against private holiday rental sites like Airbnb.

Last year, Barcelona threatened to ban all Airbnbs from the city over hundreds of properties that were operating without a tourism license.

And just last month, the city of Paris filed a lawsuit against Airbnb and illegal listings on the site.

A court hearing, scheduled for June 12, could affect up to 85 percent of listings on the site.


Tourism Observer