Unpopular tourists – holiday apartments: Barcelona wants drastic ban

All apartments currently legally rented to tourists for short stays could then be used by residents of the metropolis in northeastern Spain, mayor Jaume Collboni told journalists on Friday.

“From 2029, there will be no more holiday apartments in the city of Barcelona as we know it. And that will allow us to put 10,000 properties on the rental or sales market,” he said. This amounts to “building 10,000 apartments,” he emphasized.

Huge price increases
The mayor pointed out that rental prices in the Catalan capital have risen by almost 70 percent in the past ten years and purchase prices by around 40 percent. The city council is therefore forced to take drastic measures by decree to guarantee access to affordable housing. The existing licenses no longer want to be extended after expiry.

“We cannot allow the majority of young people who want to leave their homes to be forced to leave Barcelona,” the Socialist politician said. This measure will not end the housing shortage overnight. “These problems take time. But with this measure we mark a turning point.”

Tourists are becoming increasingly unpopular
Dissatisfaction with mass tourism in Spain is increasing rapidly. Lately there have been major protests in tourist hotspots such as Barcelona, ​​Mallorca and the Canary Islands. There, the increasing number of visitors is mainly attributed to the lack of affordable housing, but also to the destruction of the environment, traffic jams, overcrowding, price increases and water shortages, as well as to the overload of health care and waste management.