Benidorm City Council has collected more than €100,000 in fines from illegal holiday lets during a widening enforcement crackdown across the Spanish resort.
The local authority penalised four separate property owners with initial charges of €50,001 each, which were halved after the landlords admitted breaking the regulations and agreed to pay quickly, according to Javi Jorda, Benidorm's commerce councillor.
A further 12 proposed financial sanctions are currently being processed by town hall officials, Spanish news outlet The Olive Press reports.
Since the municipal council took over sanctioning powers from the regional Valencian Government last year, local authorities have received complaints flagging 196 holiday rentals across the resort.
While 107 of the properties were found to be following the law, 16 are facing fines and 73 remain under active investigation.
Officers from Policia Local Benidorm carry out physical inspections of suspected properties across the town, while administrative paperwork and case files are organised by the municipal Department of Commerce.
The local council is one of only a few municipalities in the region with the legal power to issue direct fines, according to regional publication Euro Weekly News. Most other town halls across the area must rely entirely on regional officials to penalise offenders.
Holiday rentals in Benidorm
Benidorm City Council took over responsibility for regulating holiday accommodation from the Valencian Government last year in a direct bid to tackle unlicensed tourist lets.
Located on the Costa Blanca in Spain's eastern province of Alicante, Benidorm attracts millions of international visitors every year. The coastal town has long been popular with British holidaymakers drawn to its sandy beaches, high-rise hotels, lively nightlife, and all-inclusive package deals.
However, the rapid spread of residential flats converted into short-term tourist accommodation has created growing friction, prompting municipal leaders to tighten controls over landlords operating without official permits.
National crackdown on unlicensed rentals
The enforcement campaign in Benidorm coincides with a broader national crackdown across Spain against rogue holiday lets advertised on major internet platforms.
Spain's central government recently issued a €64 million (£56 million) fine to property rental giant Airbnb for promoting unlicensed tourist accommodation.
Investigators found more than 65,122 listings on the platform that constituted unfair commercial practices affecting consumers and users, including the marketing of homes that had no tourist licences.
The Spanish authorities ordered Airbnb to remove the illegal listings from its service. According to Spain's Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda, the fine was set at six times the total revenue generated from the unlicensed properties.
Airbnb legal challenge and new rules
Although the government body stated that the administrative fine cannot be appealed through ministerial channels, Airbnb confirmed that it intends to challenge the penalty in court.
A company spokesman told Reuters: "Airbnb is confident that the ministry's actions are contrary to applicable regulations in Spain and we intend to challenge this fine in court."
The rental platform confirmed that it is cooperating with Spain's Ministry of Housing to roll out a new registration framework after Spain updated its national short-term rental rules last July.
Spain is stepping up enforcement against tourist accommodation platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com in an effort to curb excessive tourism numbers. The country welcomed 94 million international visitors in 2024, intensifying public and political debate over the impact of mass tourism on local communities.
Spain housing crisis and consumer fines
Spain's central government, along with several city councils and regional authorities, argues that short-term rental websites have inflated local housing costs and restricted the supply of homes available to long-term residents.
Consumer Rights Minister Pablo Bustinduy stated that the fine against Airbnb is the second largest ever imposed by the ministry for consumer rights violations. The sanction is surpassed only by the €108 million penalty issued to budget airline Ryanair in 2024 for charging passengers extra fees on cabin bags.
In Airbnb's case, the ministry said the severe penalty was designed to help tackle the national housing crisis.
Pablo Bustinduy said: "There are thousands of families living on the edge because of housing, while a few get rich from business models that drive people from their homes."
