Barcelona is set to ban short-term tourist rentals by 2029, aiming to combat rising housing costs.
- The city’s council intends to terminate over 10,000 tourist flat licences to reclaim housing for residents.
- Mayor Jaume Collboni asserts this ban will provide more housing supply for Barcelona’s middle class.
- Industry figures warn that this directive might inadvertently boost illegal accommodation options.
- Critics highlight the economic contributions of short-term rentals, arguing the ban may harm local businesses.
In an ambitious move, Barcelona’s city council announced plans to prohibit short-term tourist rental accommodations within five years, targeting platforms similar to Airbnb and Homeaway. This decision forms part of a broader strategy to address the stark increase in rental prices, which have surged by 70%, provoking considerable industry backlash.
The policy involves revoking the 10,101 tourist flat licences that were previously authorised, with a clear directive for these properties to be either returned to the city’s inhabitants or repositioned on the market for rent or sale. According to Mayor Jaume Collboni, this regulation is meant to gradually alleviate the housing affordability crisis gripping the working middle class.
A comprehensive inspection protocol will remain in place to detect and prevent the operation of illegal tourist apartments following the implementation of the ban. Mayor Collboni emphasised the necessity of increasing Barcelona’s housing supply to ensure that residents can afford to remain within the city. He stated, “This measure will not change the situation from one day to the next. These problems take time. But with this measure we are marking a turning point.”
On social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, Mayor Collboni reiterated the city’s commitment to tackling the housing crisis, expressing the need to guarantee the right to reside in Barcelona. Conversely, Enrique Alcantara, President of the tourist apartments association Apartur, criticised the council’s approach. Alcantara remarked, “Tourist flats represent 0.77% of Barcelona’s housing stock. Eliminating them will not solve the problem of access to housing. The only thing the city council is going to achieve is to feed the supply of accommodation outside the law.”
Further criticism came from Vanessa de Souza Lage, a Barcelona resident and business owner in sustainability certification for rentals. She warned that the proposed ban could have detrimental long-term effects, noting that short-term rentals (STRs) help disperse tourism outside the city centre and encourage spending that directly benefits local neighbourhoods. According to Lage, “STRs are essential for dispersing tourism throughout the city. For instance, my neighborhood, which has no hotels, benefits from STRs bringing in visitors.”
Lage argued that guests staying in STRs engage more closely with local economies, purchasing from nearby markets and merchants, which bolsters the economic resilience of less tourist-saturated areas of the city. In her view, prohibiting STRs would merely concentrate tourism spending into large, international hotel chains that do not contribute as effectively to the local economy. She concluded that an outright ban would be counterproductive, stating, “By supporting STRs, we encourage a more equitable distribution of tourism’s economic benefits.”
Barcelona’s impending short-term rental ban seeks to address housing issues, but its full impact remains to be seen amid ongoing debate.
