The National Police and Benidorm Local Police carried out a joint operation on Friday 30 October at the Intempo building on Poniente beach. The aim was to identify homes let to tourists without meeting the requirements of the law. About 40 uniformed officers from both forces took part.

Spot checks were carried out in flats in both towers, Poniente and Levante. At the same time, officers from the National Police's Prevention and Reaction Unit (Unidad de Prevención y Reacción, UPR) checked people and vehicles around the building. The operation went off as normal, and residents and occupants cooperated with the police.

Within a few hours of checks, officers identified at least seven tourist apartments that were allegedly operating without the required administrative authorisation (habilitación administrativa), according to police sources. In its headline, Europa Press calls Intempo the tallest building in Benidorm. The reports do not say how many flats were checked in total, or what penalties the owners of the seven apartments face.

Benidorm Town Hall gained the power to inspect and penalise tourist lets under Decree-law 9/2024 of 2 August, passed by the regional government (Generalitat). The decree amended Law 15/2018 on tourism, leisure and hospitality (Ley 15/2018 de turismo, ocio y hospitalidad). The regional rules include the principle of unidad de explotación: management and administration must rest with a single responsible owner, which matters when deciding who is liable for breaches. Penalty cases are handled by the town hall's trade department (Departamento de Comercio).

Since the town hall gained these powers, several proposals for penalties have been drawn up over illegal tourist activity. At least four fines, initially set at €50,001 each, have already been paid. The offenders took a 50% discount for admitting liability and paying promptly.

Further cases following the checks have not been ruled out, because of possible breaches of the rules on keeping guest records and passing on their details (registro documental y comunicación de datos). These duties are set out in Royal Decree 933/2021 of 26 October 2021, which implements the Citizen Security Act (Ley Orgánica 4/2015 de protección de la seguridad ciudadana). Breaching some of them can be a serious public-safety offence, with a fine of €601 to €30,000.