Tarifa allows hotel use on three plots in Albacerrado

The Tarifa City Council has definitively approved the modification of the General Urban Development Plan (PGOU) which introduces hospitality as a compatible use in plots P1, P2, and P3 of the urban land execution unit of Albacerrado. The agreement was adopted by the Plenary in an extraordinary session on July 20, 2026, and is now published in full in the Official Gazette of the Province of Cádiz no. 204, dated October 22, 2026 (announcement No. 346.228, file PG-8/2021 -G8604-). The regulation will enter into force on the day following its publication in the provincial gazette.

The innovation, promoted by Federico José Gámez Lanzas, aims to “enable the implementation of hotel-class tourist accommodation and tourist apartments in a limited part of the tertiary ceiling assigned to the aforementioned plots, within the same residential-use building.” The document justifies the measure based on the municipality’s deficit of tourist land: Tarifa’s PGOU, approved in 1990, “presents a significant deficit of land destined for this use” in the face of the growth of tourism activity.

The Plenary initially approved the document on March 26, 2026, and submitted it for public review for one month, with an announcement in the BOP no. 68, dated April 13, 2026, and publication in the Europa Sur newspaper on April 9. The General Secretariat certified on May 21, 2026, that no objections were filed regarding the case.

What the new ordinance allows

The modification is restricted to the tertiary ceiling already assigned to each plot, where the constructed premises that have partially fallen into disuse are located. Compatible uses now include commerce, offices, hospitality, small industry, artisanal workshops, warehouses, and garage-parking, with the obligation to provide at least one parking space for every two dwellings.

Fact sheet for the three affected plots:

• P1: 435.00 m2 of surface area, 970.00 m2t of residential ceiling, 150.00 m2t of tertiary ceiling, 17 dwellings and three floors plus penthouse.
• P2: 1,789.00 m2, 1,410.00 m2t residential, 1,003.70 m2t tertiary, 24 dwellings and two floors plus penthouse.
• P3: 610.00 m2, 1,050.00 m2t residential, 300.00 m2t tertiary, 13 dwellings and three floors plus penthouse.

Altogether, 54 dwellings in closed block buildings, without an interior courtyard, with 100% plot occupancy and direct action via license.

A joint cap of 850 square meters

The text establishes a single limit: “the maximum total surface area intended for hospitality use among plots P1, P2, and P3 cannot exceed the limit of 850.00 m2t,” without also exceeding the tertiary buildability of each plot. The Municipal Architect endorsed replacing the individual caps with a joint parameter to contribute to the “fair distribution of benefits” among those involved in the building activity.

The Tarifa City Council maintains that the measure does not impair the availability of land for other productive uses other than tourism and that it responds to the general interest, as these are the only plots of the unit that, already built, are partially disused.

Sectoral reports and voting

The processing accumulated favorable reports or reports of non-affectation:

• Head of the Public Hydraulic Domain and Water Quality Service (22.04.2026): no new report is required regarding water matters.
• General Directorate of Telecommunications of the Ministry for Digital Transformation and Civil Service (23.04.2026): favorable report.
• State Road Demarcation in Western Andalusia (12.05.2026): the action does not affect the State Road Network.
• Territorial Delegation of Health and Consumption in Cádiz (08.06.2026): it will not generate significant impacts on health.
• Territorial Delegate for urban planning matters of the Ministry of Development, Territorial Articulation and Housing (11.06.2026): it does not affect structural planning nor does it affect supra-local interests.

The agreement was approved by 12 votes in favor and one against, cast by José Antonio Escribano Barrios, of the Municipal Group Ganar Tarifa para la Gente. The announcement is signed by the mayor-president, José Antonio Santos Perea, and the acting general secretary, Francisco Javier Ochoa Caro, in Tarifa on October 6, 2026.

Registration and appeal process

The instrument was registered under number 74 in the municipal Registry of Planning Instruments, Urban Agreements, and Cataloged Assets and Spaces (RIPCUBEC) and under number 11038 in the Regional Registry of Urban Instruments, Tarifa Book of the Cádiz Registration Unit. An administrative-law appeal may be filed against the agreement within two months from the day following its publication, before the Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of Andalusia.

The decision comes while plot P4, reserved by the planning for hotel use, remains unexecuted and has an Ordering Study in process (file 2023/9431 PG-ED) that proposes replacing that hotel use with free residential use. The municipal technical report itself warns of this contradiction and emphasizes that, except for P4, there are currently no other nearby plots that allow for the implementation of tourist accommodations, which makes P1, P2, and P3 the only effective land offer for hotels and apartments in the area.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Cádiz, no. 204, of October 22, 2026, Local Administration, pp. 3-7 (official reference: announcement No. 346.228, file PG-8/2021 -G8604-).