Cádiz prohibits converting homes into hotels and tourist apartments

The Plenary of the Cádiz City Council definitively approved on May 28, 2026, the Specific Modification No. 10 of the General Urban Development Plan (PGOU) for the protection of residential land against lodging use. The agreement is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Cádiz No. 210, of October 30, 2026, under reference No. 358.170, and prohibits the transformation of dwellings into hotel establishments and tourist apartments except in properties cataloged as grade 0. The modification alters seven articles of the General Plan’s Urban Regulations and entirely dismisses the allegations made by owners and the Andalusian association of tourist housing.

From initial approval to the definitive agreement

The file originates from the initial approval agreed upon by the Plenary on May 29, 2025, under point 4, and from the favorable report of the Information Commission for Sustainable Urban Development and Environment on May 25, 2026. The initial approval was subject to public consultation for one month, with publication in the BOP on June 24, 2025, and display on the notice board between June 10 and July 14, 2025.

The processing complies with Article 86 of Law 7/2021 (LISTA) and Article 121 of Decree 550/2022, which grant municipalities the authority to approve modifications without supra-local impact. The file incorporates favorable reports from the Ministry of Public Works, Territorial Articulation and Housing (July 30, 2025) and the Ministry of Health (March 19, 2026), which noted positive health impacts, in addition to the statement from the Ministry of Sustainability and Environment, which ruled out subjecting the innovation to a strategic environmental assessment. The agreement was adopted unanimously by the municipal groups: Popular (14), Socialist (7), and Adelante Izquierda Gaditana (6).

Changes to the Urban Regulations

• New wording of Article 3.4.27.2, regarding sectoral requirements for accessibility, safety, premises dimensions, and facilities.
• Article 4.2.27.4.d (Historic Residential Architecture): the alternative use of lodging is limited to buildings cataloged as grade 0, and grade 1 is removed.
• Article 4.2.36.3.e (Modern Residential Architecture): identical restriction to grade 0.
• Removal of Article 7.3.9.d, which declared lodging compatible on the ground, first, and second floors of the Ensanche Moderno.
• Removal of Articles 7.3.11.d (Ensanche Moderno) and 7.4.9.d (Ciudad Jardín), which permitted lodging as an alternative use.
• New wording of Article 3.4.17.4: office premises may be transformed into lodging “except those classified in plan 3.1 with residential use.”
• Removal of Article 3.4.30, regarding typological conditions for hotel establishments in residential areas.

With this framework, the use of lodging will only be permitted on land exclusively designated for that use, on non-residential land where regulations allow for transformation, and in properties with a cataloging grade of 0.

Dismissed allegations

The Cádiz City Council rejected the two allegations presented during the public information period:

• Trébol Desarrollo y Proyectos de Inversión, S.L., represented by Javier Antonio Torres Jordán, who invoked fraud of law, formal defects, and pending judicial proceedings; the municipal response emphasizes that the property at calle Nueva nº 4 is classified as tertiary and falls outside the scope of the modification.
• Asociación de Profesionales de Viviendas y Apartamentos Turísticos de Andalucía (AVVAPro), presided over by Juan Cubo Guerrero, who requested the postponement of the regulation until the new Sustainable Tourism Law of Andalusia and questioned its economic impact; the City Council defends the municipal competence to determine land use.

Open litigation and the housing market

The High Court of Justice of Andalusia dismissed on January 16, 2026, the appeal against the modification approved on September 14, 2022 (ordinary procedure 951/2022), a resolution declared final by decree on April 15. An appeal persists before the Administrative Litigation Court regarding the denial of a building permit for 6 tourist apartments at calle Nueva nº 4, 3rd floor.

The municipal report maintains that the growth of lodging spaces reduces the rental supply: the published offer of annual residential rentals is around 100 homes, the rent exceeds 7.20 euros per square meter—trailing only Málaga, Seville, and Marbella—and new housing is valued at 3,199 euros per square meter, representing an effort of 75% of an average income.

The agreement further orders the document to be deposited in the Municipal Registry of Planning Instruments, the documentation to be sent to the General Directorate of Territorial Planning, Urbanism, and Urban Agenda of the Junta de Andalucía, and the text to be published in the BOP and on the municipal notice board. For owners of residential land, the route of tourist rentals is closed except in protected properties with grade 0, a restriction that reorganizes the expectations of developers and the city’s rental market.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Cádiz, nº 210, October 30, 2026, Section I, pp. 25-26 (official reference: No. 358.170).