Court ruling in Alcudiamar: hotel use of Botel annulled
Alcudiamar says that the ruling has no effect, as it does not currently exploit it as a hotel
PalmThe Superior Court of Justice of the Balearic Islands (TSJIB) has annulled the hotel use within the Alcudiamar concession, in the port of Alcudia, by partially upholding an appeal. The sentence (238/2026) renders ineffective the clause that allowed this activity.
The resolution is explicit and states that “the admission of hotel use” provided for in the concession is annulled. The court establishes that the applicable legal regime is the one in force at the time of granting, in 1988, which did not provide for tourist exploitation open to the public.
According to the ruling, the legal framework only allowed the use of rooms for sailors within the public port domain. This type of accommodation is linked to services for boat crews and is not comparable to a hotel establishment or tourist complex.
With this interpretation, the TSJIB rejects the assimilation of the so-called “fisherman's village” to a hotel, an assimilation that had sustained the activity of the so-called 'Botel' for years.
The nullity of the clause implies that the tourist activity developed under the concession is left without legal coverage within the current administrative title. It is a space of public port domain, subject to restrictive regulation that only allows expressly authorized uses.
The ruling thus establishes a criterion on the limits of uses in this type of space and puts a stop to interpretations that allowed intensive tourist activities in areas originally intended for port functions.
In this context, the GOB has positively valued the resolution and has called for the immediate closure of the establishment, considering that it operates as a tourist complex without an adequate municipal license. The entity also denounces the inaction of the administrations for years and warns that not acting on a ruling of this scope could violate the principle of legality.
According to the GOB, the resolution sets a relevant precedent and confirms that the 'Botel's' activity is not legal as a tourist establishment, therefore it considers that it must cease.
Alcudiamar says they no longer use it as a hotel since 2024
After the ruling by the TSJIB was made public, Alcudiamar has issued a statement in which it assures that the facilities have not been operated as a hotel since 2024. Nevertheless, they assure that they "respectfully disagree" with the judicial decision and will appeal against the ruling.
They emphasize that the hotel establishment to which the ruling refers is temporarily inactive in the Registry of companies, activities and tourist establishments. They assure that Alcudiamar currently operates the public accommodations as a complementary service within a Sports Tourist Center and, therefore, "a hotel open to the general public is not being operated, but rather accommodations for sailors linked to nautical-port activities".
Thus, the ruling, according to them, has no effect on the business development of the complex and recalls that the concession remains in force, the concession extension has been validated by the Court and the main claims of the GOB have been rejected.