Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain and one of Europe’s most visited cities, with swarms of tourists descending each year. However, on June 21, Barcelona mayor Jaume Collboni announced plans to ban Airbnb and other short-term rentals by 2029 due to the city’s housing shortage. Barcelona will prevent apartments from being rented out to tourists to ensure that locals can secure housing.
The apartments that currently have approvals for short-term rentals (on platforms like Airbnb and HomeAway) will not have their licenses renewed when they expire in November 2028. City authorities say home-sharing websites not only divest locals of apartments for long-term rent but also drive up the prices for homes remaining on the market. In Barcelona, the rise in short-term rentals has raised rents by 68 percent and the cost of buying a house by 38 percent. This problem is not limited to Barcelona but plagues other popular tourist destinations such as Paris and Berlin.
Former mayor and housing activist Ada Colau banned opening new hotels in the most popular areas and stopped issuing new licenses for tourist apartments during her term in office. This effort to curb overtourism was only partially successful, with tourists still seeking out the city in high numbers. Barcelona possesses numerous attractions, such as the breathtaking Sagrada Família, Park Guell, Picasso Museum, and Port Vell. Tourism is currently booming with the lifting of COVID-19 travel restrictions.
Thousands of protesters took to the streets on July 6 to put an end to mass tourism. Similar demonstrations have occurred in other tourist destinations in Spain, such as the Canary Islands and Palma de Mallorca.