Court ruling in Alcudiamar: hotel use of the Botel annulled
The ruling establishes that the port concession does not allow tourist accommodation and limits uses to the service of navigators
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 establishes that “the admission of hotel use” provided for in the concession is annulled. The court sets that the applicable legal regime is the one in force at the time of its 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 vessel crews and is not comparable to a hotel establishment or tourist complex.
With this interpretation, the TSJIB rejects the assimilation of the so-called “marinero village” to a hotel, an equation 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 public port domain area, 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 area 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' activity is not legal as a tourist establishment, therefore it considers that it must cease.