Seville launches a rescue plan to stop the exodus of residents from the city centre due to tourist apartments

Seville's City Council presents the Plan Sevilla Centro Vivo to recover residents in the Old Town, where over 300 tourist apartments concentrate the rental offer.

The City Council of Seville has launched the Plan Sevilla Centro Vivo, an initiative aimed at increasing the rental housing supply for permanent residence in the Old Town. The goal is to stop the expulsion of residents due to the proliferation of tourist apartments: according to the registry of the Tourism Department of the Junta de Andalucía, more than 300 of the 400 tourist apartments in the city are concentrated in this area. Furthermore, the annual report of 2025 from the Bank of Spain indicates that one in two rental homes in the centre is already designated for tourism.

The mayor José Luis Sanz has announced that the plan will be implemented through public-private collaboration, public promotion, surface rights competitions, and exchanges. The Urban Planning Management, Emvisesa, the Treasury delegation, and the Old Town district will work together to identify vacant lots, empty buildings, unfinished developments, and unused premises that can be transformed into housing.

A map of opportunities for construction and rehabilitation

The plan includes the creation of a Municipal Map of Residential Opportunities, which will locate spaces with urban capacity to build new housing in the historic centre. Unbuilt lots and empty or partially occupied buildings will be prioritised. It also considers rehabilitating unfinished developments and vacant homes in complete buildings, as well as unused administrative buildings, commercial premises, patio houses, and former municipal facilities that can be incorporated into the permanent residential market.

The City Council estimates that there are dozens of public and private properties in disuse in the Old Town that could be repurposed. Collaboration with private owners will be key to expedite actions, through exchanges or surface rights transfers in exchange for protected housing.

Tax incentives and protection of local commerce

The plan also includes tax incentives for owners who rent their homes as permanent residences, as well as protection for traditional businesses against tourist pressure. José Luis Sanz has stated that efforts will be made to balance residential and tourist use so that the centre does not lose its identity. This measure is part of the housing crisis affecting all of Andalucía: Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez, during a visit to Seville last week, urged all administrations to purchase homes for affordable rental.

The Plan Sevilla Centro Vivo is presented as a response to the demographic drain that the Old Town is suffering, where the population has fallen by 15% in the last decade according to municipal census data. Neighbours moving to other districts or the province complain about the impossibility of finding affordable rentals. The City Council hopes that the first actions will be underway before the end of the year and that within three years, at least 200 new homes will have been added to the permanent residential market.