Seville’s city government, led by mayor José Luis Sanz, says it will now start the process to limit tourist flats in every neighbourhood of the city, Diario de Sevilla reports. The measure was one of the conditions Vox set for supporting the 2026 municipal budget, and it is being made public with less than two months of the year left.
What happened
According to Diario de Sevilla, the local government will process a reduction in the number of viviendas de uso turístico (VUT, tourist rental homes) allowed across Seville. Vox’s municipal group had demanded this in exchange for backing the Presupuestos (the city’s annual budget) for 2026.
Vox published its proposal months ago. It aims to cut the room for new tourist flats by more than 10,000 across the Andalusian capital. Its spokesperson on the city council, Gonzalo García de Polavieja, raised it again in July, but the newspaper reports that the local government has only now made it public so that the formal process can begin.
The proposal sets a different maximum share of tourist homes for each neighbourhood. That way every area would have a limit and could be declared a zona saturada (saturated zone), a designation that stops new licences being granted. At present only two areas have that status: the Casco Antiguo (the old town), except for the barrio del Museo, and the historic centre of Triana.
Vox bases its case on official figures from October 2025. These show 9,261 registered tourist homes in Seville out of a total of 328,488 homes, which is 3% of the housing stock. Under the current general limit of 10%, there is room for 23,588 more tourist flats. Vox says that under its proposal this figure would fall to 13,234.
The limits would depend on how much pressure each neighbourhood is under. Diario de Sevilla reports that most districts would see the cap tightened to 5%, while those under less pressure would have a cap of 8%.
What it means for you
The change has not taken effect yet. The local government has announced that it will begin processing the measure, and the source does not give a date for when the new limits would apply.
If you own a flat in Seville, or are thinking of buying one to rent to tourists, this matters most to you. At the moment, new licences are blocked only in the Casco Antiguo (apart from the barrio del Museo) and in historic Triana. Elsewhere, the general 10% limit still leaves room for new tourist flats. Under the proposal, every neighbourhood would have its own lower cap of 5% or 8%, and any neighbourhood could be declared saturated. That could close the door to new licences in areas that are open today.
If you plan to buy property with tourist rental in mind, check the current status of the neighbourhood with the Ayuntamiento de Sevilla (Seville City Council) before you commit, and follow the process as it moves forward. Tenants and residents who are worried about tourist flats in their neighbourhood may want to follow it too, because the proposal applies to every part of the city, not only the centre.
The source does not say whether the new caps would affect tourist flats that already have a licence. Its figures refer to how many more could be allowed.
What to watch next
Diario de Sevilla points out that the timing is political. The announcement comes as the city negotiates its 2027 budget, which was presented this week, and less than a month before the general election. Watch how the measure moves through the council and whether it becomes part of the talks on the 2027 budget.
The other key detail is which neighbourhoods get the 5% cap and which get 8%, because that will decide where new tourist licences can still be granted.
Source: Diario de Sevilla
Sources
- Diario de Sevilla: El Gobierno anuncia ahora que cumplirá el pacto con Vox para reducir los pisos turísticos en Sevilla, accessed 6 November 2026
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