Torrevieja, a tourist hub in the Alicante province of Spain with a population of 82,000, intends to become “the first crypto-friendly city in Europe,” by letting its stores accept cryptocurrencies.
On Feb. 6, the official website of the Torrevieja administration announced the city's “ambitious digital transformation project,” a collaboration between the Department of Commerce of the Torrevieja City Council and the Association of Small and Medium Merchants of Torrevieja (APYMECO).
To turn Torrevieja into the first “crypto-friendly” city in Europe, the Department of Commerce and APYMECO will digitize local commerce using blockchain technology.
The first phase of such transformation will “focus on promoting commerce” through the use of cryptocurrencies as a transactional medium. It will seek to allow customers to pay for products and services with cryptocurrencies and “other crypto assets.”
In two other phases, the city will try to recover “natural spaces” and promote the creation of new jobs and financing for companies in the technology sector.
Related: Spanish Treasury to seize crypto to pay tax debts
Torrevieja’s Councilor for Commerce, Rosario Martínez Chazarra, expressed his hope that these measures will create incentives for crypto owners and indicated that the University of Alicante will even launch special courses on digital payments for local businesses.
The president of APYMECO, Jorge Almarcha, emphasized that “in Spain, since 2015, it has been legal to pay with cryptocurrencies,” but no attempts have been made to democratize digital payments.
Neither Bitcoin nor any other cryptocurrencies hold legal tender status in Spain. However, the country remains relatively open to the crypto industry. The number of crypto companies officially registered to operate in Spain grew roughly 56% in 2023. The country occupies fourth place globally after the United States, Canada and Australia in the number of Bitcoin ATMs with 309 machines.
The Spanish government has also been preoccupied with collecting taxes from its crypto hodlers. Even those residents holding any crypto assets on non-Spanish platforms will have to declare them by March 31 under new laws governing the taxation of virtual assets.
Magazine: Real-life Doge at 18. Meme that’s going to the moon
