Barcelona, a prime holiday location in Spain, declared on Friday that it will prohibit flat rentals to tourists by 2028, with the aim of controlling escalating property prices and retaining the city’s livability for inhabitants. Jaume Collboni, the city’s left-wing mayor, disclosed that by November 2028, existing licences granted for the 10,101 flats currently recognised as transient rentals will be cancelled. Collboni stated at a city government gathering that the city is addressing what is perceived as Barcelona’s biggest issue.
Due to a surge in transient rentals, Barcelona, Spain’s most frequented city by international tourists, has become unaffordable for some inhabitants as rents have surged by 68% over the preceding decade, and the house buying costs have escalated by 38%. Collboni pointed out that the access to housing has become a major inequality factor, especially for the younger demographic.
Though national governments appreciate tourism for its economic advantages – Spain being among the top three nations with the most visitors globally, local communities are being priced out in some locations. The subjects of gentrification and residential preference for profitable tourist rentals are becoming increasingly controversial across Europe.
During the past ten years, local governments have imposed constraints on transient rentals in areas such as Spain’s Canary Islands, Lisbon, and Berlin. Spain’s Socialist housing minister, Isabel Rodriguez García, expressed her support for Barcelona’s resolution. She emphasised on X that ensuring accessibility to reasonably priced housing required all possible ventures.
No comment was immediately available from Airbnb, the holiday rental platform with a considerable count of Barcelona listings. APARTUR, Barcelona’s tourist apartment association, denounced the ban, claiming that it would lead to an increase in poverty, unemployment, and illegal tourist flats. However, hotels are expected to profit from this regulation. Between 2015 and 2023, a far-left party governing Barcelona banned the inauguration of new hotels in the city’s most frequented regions. Still, Collboni suggested a potential relaxation of the prohibition. The announcement made on Friday elicited no response from Barcelona’s hotel association. Collboni declared that the city’s inhabitants would utilise the 10,000 flats affected by the regulation, or they would be listed for rent or sale.
The city administration of Barcelona communicated that it would sustain its rigorous inspection procedures to identify any potential unauthorized holiday flats once the prohibition is implemented. In recent times, the city hasn’t permitted any additional holiday flats. Since 2016, the administration has demanded the closure of approximately 9,700 unauthorised tourist flats and has managed to reclaim nearly 3,500 flats for conversion into primary residences for local inhabitants, the administrative body reported. This information is according to Reuters.