Platja d'Aro wants to facilitate the return of residents who have left due to lack of affordable housing

Source Summary

The tourist appeal of Platja d'Aro, where more than half of the 15,712 homes in the municipality are second homes or tourist apartments, has caused housing rental and purchase prices to rise exponentially in recent years. This has led many young people from the town who wanted to become independent to move to other municipalities. So that these residents "can return home", the City Council is working to expand the public "affordable" housing stock, and one of the formulas it is committed to is asking the owners of the 374 homes in the municipality registered as "empty" to make them available to the municipal rental exchange. The City Council considers them empty homes because in the last four years they have not generated any electricity or gas bills. They do pay taxes such as IBI, which can be doubled or tripled from January 2026, and that is why the City Council gives them this warning: "Owner, do you have an empty home? It may be costing you money".