The tourist “boom” that has been going on in Spain for some time now is showing signs of exhaustion, to the point where citizens are turning their homes into precious treasures due to the excessive use of housing for “holiday” purposes. For this reason, “quotas” are regulated and limited or simply closed. In illegal cases where the rule continues to be violated, the municipality cuts off its own water. The aim is to prevent situations like the one that happened to the family in Galicia who paid 1,800 euros for a house that does not exist. However, fraud and suspicious practices continue to operate. The recent case in Granada is a good example.

Holiday rental in a nursing home. If the statement seems surprising, that’s because it is. The news discovered by ElDiario.es is huge. It seems that a nursing home in Almuñécar, a town in Granada, is renting rooms as tourist accommodation without a license.

Upon hearing the news, the City Council demanded an explanation and demanded that the activity be stopped immediately. Meanwhile, neighbors tell the media that people are still staying, while the company assures that they have not committed any irregularities.

The historical past of the building. We are talking about the María Auxiliadora de Almuñécar Retirement Residence, which opened its doors two years ago, in 2022. In reality, the building was built on a land classified as residential in 2000, which over time was converted into private land. According to the media, the aid was provided after an exchange in which the buildable area was expanded to 6,000 square meters.

With this work, the first retirement home on the land was built, which was operated for eight years by the foreign company Evangelisches Johanneswerk España Residencia Costa Tropical. The building was then closed for ten years until the Alfaguara group bought it in 2021 and invested seven million euros to open the new residence.

A residence on reservation. The problem, as we said, is that part of the building is used as tourist accommodation without a permit. In fact, Diario.es assures us that many of the apartments intended for the isolation of the elderly are advertised on Booking and similar sites as “Tropicalia Apartments”. The advertisements come with the same photographs used on the residence’s website (even its files bear the name “María Auxiliadora Senior Residence”).

They also come with the label “for over 55s” but practically anyone can stay. To give you an idea, the “stays” already have an average rating of 8.8 out of 10 on Booking reviews, accompanied by comments like “the magnificent views from the living room and bedroom, the spaciousness and kitchenware”, “everything is new” or “the peace of mind, the kindness and willingness to make sure we were okay.”

No license. According to official figures, the residence, which consists of five buildings with various gardens and two swimming pools, has 95 built-in beds and the possibility of daily accommodation. However, the first to raise the alarm were the neighbours who reported that the lower floors were rented for touristic purposes. And not only that. ElDiario.es says it has confirmed how young people are organising parties in the areas on the ground floor of the residence.

Following the complaint, the Almuñécar Municipal Council sent a request to the organization operating the residence in August to cease activity, stating that “any interested party can rent apartments” and that these facilities can be rented once the appropriate license is verified. “The operation of geriatric residences is exclusively allowed, so any rental activity of tourist houses or apartments does not require a municipal license.”

What does the residence say? According to what they told the media, “the exploitation of housing has nothing to do with the use of apartments,” meaning that no irregularities will be committed. On the other hand, they “categorically” deny that any tourist activity is carried out in the facilities and state that only “dependent people” stay here.

Meanwhile, a month has passed since the request and it is still possible to rent a room in the nursing home through the website (Tropicalia Apartments).

Image | Zarateman, Tropicalia Apartments

In Xataka | “My savings were there”: Spanish cities begin to regulate and close their tourist offices

In Xataka | Illegal tourist apartments in Seville won’t even have running water. This is how the city wants to end overcrowding