Valencia News April 13 | Summer Concerts at Risk, Foreign Buyers Rise & San Vicente Ferrer
Bon dia! Here’s your roundup of Valencia news this week. Today is the Festival day of San Vicente Ferrer, Valencia’s public holiday honouring the city’s patron saint. There will be religious processions and children’s mystery plays — the Miracles of San Vicente — taking place across the city. Plus a mascletà at Plaza Tetuan at 2:30 pm. The Ayuntamiento has published the full program here: Festividad de San Vicente Ferrer 2026
A quick reminder about our new monthly meetup: Pont de Valencia – At the Table kicks off on April 16 with an Eritrean lunch at a small, family-run restaurant. These are intimate, casual gatherings — just good food and good company — created in response to requests for more in-person events. Spaces are limited, so if you’d like to join us, you can reserve your spot here.
Valencia’s summer music season in crisis — ticket resales spike after City of Arts concert ban
The court ruling prohibiting outdoor music festivals at the City of Arts and Sciences — handed down in response to noise complaints from neighbouring residents — has thrown Valencia’s summer events calendar into disarray. Concert-goers with tickets to events now in legal jeopardy have begun listing them on secondary market sites. Milanuncios reported as many as two new postings per day for affected events. The Gay Games, which had planned to use the City of Arts as its central hub in June, has already been forced to relocate. Organisers and the city council have not yet confirmed an alternative plan for the season.
Source: La reventa de entradas de los festivales de la Ciudad de las Artes se dispara tras la sentencia — Las Provincias
City & Housing
Foreign buyers driving Valencia’s housing market — Dutch overtake British as top buyers
Foreign demand for housing in the Comunitat Valenciana is running at more than double the national average, according to new data from the Real Estate Registry Yearbook. Foreigners now account for over 27% of home purchases across the region. In Alicante, that figure rises to 43%. In a notable shift, Dutch nationals have overtaken British buyers as the largest group of foreign purchasers across the region. A reversal that reflects both post-Brexit complexity for British buyers and growing Dutch interest in the Mediterranean coast.
Source: La demanda extranjera de vivienda en la Comunitat vuelve a duplicar la media nacional — Valencia Plaza
Shantytowns growing inside the city — 574 families in precarious settlements
Compromís has raised the alarm over the growth of informal settlements within the Valencia metropolitan area. The party estimates that 574 families — including 384 children — are now living in shacks and encampments across the city. The former Formula 1 circuit alone is now home to more than 100 people living in tents and improvised shelters. The figures connect to a broader pattern of homelessness and social exclusion in the city.
Source: Crece el número de personas en chabolas y asentamientos en València: 574 familias con 384 menores — Levante-EMV
City & Economy
Unemployment at an 18-year low — but one in three Valencians at risk of poverty
The Comunitat Valenciana recorded its lowest unemployment figure since 2008 in March, with 2,467 fewer people out of work, bringing the total to 288,162. The figure reflects Spain’s broader economic growth and continues a trend of steady improvement since the post-pandemic recovery.
Set against that, new data submitted to the EU shows that 31% of Valencian families are at risk of poverty — above the national average and up from the previous year. While northern Spanish regions have reduced their poverty rates, the south and east, including Valencia, have seen the figure stagnate or rise. The two statistics together describe an economy growing unevenly.
Sources:
El paro baja en 2.467 personas en marzo en la Comunitat Valenciana hasta los 288.162 desempleados — Valencia Plaza
Alerta social en la Comunitat Valenciana: uno de cada tres en riesgo de pobreza — Valencia Extra
Metrovalencia strikes resume — Days of disruption from April 16
The Metrovalencia industrial dispute has produced a new round of strike action. Five days of reduced service are now planned between April 16 and 30 during peak commuting hours. Unions have been demanding improvements in safety and working conditions. Check the Valencia Extra guide for the specific days and times affected before planning your commute.
Source: Nueva huelga en Metrovalencia: cinco días de paros afectarán a miles de viajeros en abril — Valencia Extra
City & Safety
Port corruption deepens, phone theft gets prison sentences — and a Civil War bomb safely detonated
Another civil guard officer was arrested this week in Operation Spider, the ongoing investigation into drug smuggling and money laundering networks that have infiltrated senior police and customs ranks at Valencia’s port. A court trial is now underway as the investigation continues to widen.
On a different front, Valencia’s courts handed down the first prison sentence under new legislation making mobile phone theft a more serious offence. An eight-month suspended sentence was given to a three-person team convicted of stealing phones from tourists in the city centre. Phone theft can now result in sentences of up to three years — a significant escalation from previous penalties for what has been a persistent problem in the city.
In an unusual Friday incident, bomb disposal experts safely detonated a 50-kilogram Civil War-era bomb at Valencia’s port after it was unearthed during construction work. The controlled explosion surprised nearby residents, but the area had been cordoned off in advance.
Sources:
Otro guardia civil del puerto, detenido por la trama del capitán preso por narcotráfico — Las Provincias
Primera condena de prisión por hurto agravado de móviles en Valencia — Las Provincias
Los TEDAX detonan una bomba de 50 kilos de la Guerra Civil en el Puerto de Valencia — ABC
City & Culture
San Vicente Ferrer, a British PM spotted in El Carmen, and the last falla artist to leave Ciudad Fallera
For San Vicente Ferrer, ABC reported this week on two 13th-century bibles that once belonged to the saint are now being studied at the University of Valencia for their handwritten marginal notes — a small piece of living medieval scholarship.
In lighter news, Las Provincias reported — exclusively and behind a paywall — that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spent the Easter holiday in Valencia with his family. He was spotted walking through the Mercado Central and the streets of El Carmen accompanied by bodyguards. The visit went largely unnoticed at the time.
And from the world of Fallas: Las Provincias profiled Ximo Esteve, the latest master falla artist to retire and sell his workshop in Ciudad Fallera — the neighbourhood where the great monuments are built. None of his children wish to continue the craft, drawn instead to better-paid careers. The festival has UNESCO heritage status, but the artisans who make it possible are quietly disappearing.
Sources:
Las dos Biblias de San Vicente Ferrer: un tesoro del siglo XIII y el enigma de sus notas marginales — ABC
El primer ministro británico y su familia pasan las Pascuas entre Mercado Central y el Carmen — Las Provincias
El último caído en la Ciudad Fallera — Las Provincias
Source of the week
Guía Hedonista — Valencia’s food and drink guide
The food and drink arm of Valencia Plaza, Guía Hedonista covers the city’s restaurant scene, bar culture, and gastronomy with genuine depth. This week, they launched a new podcast — En la Barra — dedicated to bar culture in Spain. For Spanish learners, it is useful listening practice in a topic most residents encounter daily. For anyone wanting to navigate Valencia’s food scene beyond the tourist trail, Guía Hedonista is the most reliable local guide available in Spanish.
