Tourist licence in Alicante: moratorium, requirements and renewal (2026)

General information based on official sources (Generalitat Valenciana, Alicante City Council, BOE) and dated local press, listed at the end. Most sources are in Spanish. This is not legal advice for your case. We will update this guide when Alicante approves Modification no. 52. Original version in Spanish: licencia turística en Alicante.

Is there a tourist licence moratorium in Alicante?

Yes. Alicante City Council suspended licences and planning compatibility certificates for tourist rental properties across the whole municipality. The suspension was later extended to whole apartment blocks, guesthouses and hostels. In February 2026 a court in Alicante dismissed the appeal brought against the moratorium by Aptur, the tourist rental association.

Fines for operating without registration in the Valencia region can reach €600,000 for very serious infringements.

What changes when the moratorium ends: Modification no. 52

According to the initially approved text, summarised by the City Council on 10 December 2025, the end of the moratorium does not mean a return to the old situation. The new rule sets out:

What is a tourist rental property (and what is not)?

A tourist rental property (vivienda de uso turístico, VUT) is, according to the Generalitat, a whole home let for a price, for tourist purposes, for a maximum of 10 consecutive nights to the same guest, with a favourable planning compatibility report from the town hall. Some consequences:

• Lets of more than 10 nights fall outside tourist regulations. If your property is registered as a tourist rental, within the period you declared as tourist use you cannot sign another type of contract without first changing that period. If you do, the property is removed from the Register.
• You cannot rent by the room. It is prohibited and a very serious infringement.
• You must declare the operating period: all year, summer, weekends, Easter or other specific dates.

If your property has no licence, the legal alternative is a mid-term rental (more than 10 nights, with a temporary reason under the Spanish Urban Leases Act). We manage that too: ask us.

What are the requirements to register a tourist property in the Valencia region?

Registration is an online responsible declaration in the Tourism Register of the Comunitat Valenciana (Generalitat procedure 19207). It can only be filed electronically, with a digital certificate or Cl@ve, or through a representative. For an owner living abroad without a Spanish digital certificate, a representative is often the practical route.

• Favourable planning compatibility report from the town hall. The essential document. In towns with suspended licences or modified planning, it must be no more than 6 months old when you file. In Alicante city it is not being granted at present.
• Express approval from the community of owners, by 3/5 of the owners who also represent 3/5 of the shares. Required since 3 April 2025 (Horizontal Property Act, article 17.12). With the same majority, the community can ban or authorise tourist use in the building as a whole.
• A single, individual cadastral reference for the property.
• First or second occupation licence (or equivalent) for residential properties.
• Third-party liability insurance or an equivalent guarantee.
• Energy performance certificate.
• Annex III minimum standards of the accommodation decree: evacuation plan or instructions, a 24-hour assistance phone line, cooling and heating at least in the living room, first aid kit, internet and TV, a wardrobe in every bedroom, washing machine, equipped kitchen, and reception, cleaning, linen change and maintenance services. Extra beds (sofa beds) cannot exceed 50 % of the fixed beds, and cots do not count as places.

The Generalitat states that handing over keys through key boxes on the public highway is prohibited.

Renewal every 5 years and selling the property

Since Decree-law 9/2024, registration in the Register lasts 5 years. The renewal is filed in the month before it expires, with the owner’s express consent. If it is not filed, the property is removed from the Register.

Why this matters in Alicante: if renewal requires an updated town hall report and the property is in a zone the new rule treats as saturated, or it does not meet the independent entrance requirement, the 2029 renewal may be difficult. It is worth checking where each property stands as soon as the final text is published.

Selling or buying a property with a licence

If the property changes owner (purchases made since 8 August 2024), the new owner must file a change-of-owner declaration with a favourable planning compatibility report. While the moratorium lasts in Alicante, that report is not granted. For inheritances, notifying the change is enough. Before buying a flat “with a licence” in Alicante, check this point.

Properties registered before 8 August 2024 have until 8 August 2029 to meet the new Annex III standards (internet, for example), as long as the owner does not change.

What are the day-to-day obligations?

• Registration number in every listing (Airbnb, Booking, your own website), together with the exact location of the property.
• Plaque or sign at the entrance: the Generalitat’s red vinyl sign with the registration number.
• Guest registration: guest details must be sent to the Ministry of the Interior (SES.Hospedajes, Royal Decree 933/2021).
• Complaint forms available to guests.
• House rules, which the guest must accept before arrival.
• Single Rental Register (Registro Único de Arrendamientos): no longer required. The Supreme Court annulled it on 21 May 2026 (judgment STS 620/2026). Only registration in the Tourism Register of the Comunitat Valenciana is required.

What is the situation in other towns in the province of Alicante?

Each town hall decides whether a property is compatible with tourist use, so the situation varies from one town to another. This is what we could confirm on 27 October 2026. Before investing or applying for the report, always check with the town hall: these measures change often, and some only take effect when published in the official gazette.

We manage properties in Alicante, Playa de San Juan, El Campello, Muchavista, Elche, Torrevieja and the rest of the Costa Blanca. See our Torrevieja and Orihuela Costa page and our holiday rental management in Alicante.

What should you do now if you own a flat in Alicante?

Living abroad? Our guide for non-resident owners also covers Non-Resident Income Tax and Modelo 210.

FAQ

Sources

• Generalitat Valenciana, Directorate General for Tourism: FAQ on tourist housing (version of 02/07/2026).
• Generalitat Valenciana: Self-registration of tourist housing (procedure 19207).
• Law 3/2026, of 29 June, of the Generalitat (BOE-A-2026-15683), amending Decree 10/2021 on tourist accommodation.
• Law 5/2026, of 31 July, of the Generalitat (BOE-A-2026-19331), which rewords those amendments.
• Alicante City Council: approval of the draft Modification no. 52 (10/12/2025) and extension of the moratorium to blocks (July 2025).
• El Español: enforcement figures and timetable for the new regulation (24/09/2026).
• El Debate: the courts uphold the moratorium (27/02/2026).
• Local press for each town, linked in the table in section 7.
• Original guide in Spanish: licencia turística en Alicante.