The mayor of Barcelona wants to eliminate apartment rentals for tourist purposes within five years

Barcelona – In Barcelona, from the end of 2028, no apartments should be rented out as tourist accommodation. This was announced today by the mayor of the Catalan metropolis, Jaume Collboni. According to local media, he stated that the city hall wants to contribute to solving the housing shortage in the city and reducing rental prices.

"In 2028, the use of apartments for tourist activities will end in Barcelona," said the Barcelona mayor, who is a member of the Catalan Socialists. At the end of 2028, according to him, the city hall will not renew any permits for apartment owners to rent to tourists.

Currently, there are about 10,100 such permits in Barcelona, which according to the newspaper ABC is just under one percent of the housing stock in the city. The opposition criticizes the city hall's plan, arguing that it will not solve the housing problem.

Mayor Collboni has sufficient support from other parties in the city hall for the implementation of his plan. However, this measure will very likely lead to legal disputes, wrote the newspaper El País.

To abolish tourist rentals of residential units, the city hall of Barcelona plans to use a law passed by the Catalan government at the end of last year, which allows city halls to not renew such permits. The permits were previously indefinite, but based on the new regulation of the Catalan government, existing rentals will expire in November 2028. The city hall can then extend them, but the mayor of Barcelona announced today that his city hall will not do so.

In Spain, there have been a number of demonstrations in recent weeks against mass tourism. For example, on April 20, about 60,000 people took to the streets and promenades by the beaches in the Canary Islands, demanding, among other things, a limit on the number of tourists and affordable housing for locals. In solidarity with them, groups of people also demonstrated in Madrid and Barcelona at that time. At the end of May, about 10,000 people protested against mass tourism in Mallorca, where hundreds of people also gathered on the beach with a giant banner reading "Let’s occupy our beaches" last weekend. Last weekend, people in southern Spain's Granada also manifested for tourist number limits.

In two weeks, there is also a demonstration planned against mass tourism in Barcelona under the slogan "Enough! Let’s set limits on tourism." Barcelona is one of the most visited places in Spain, with over 12 million tourists staying there last year, about 80 percent of whom were foreigners.