The decision made headlines around the world, sparking surprise and threats of billion-euro lawsuits. But months after officials in Barcelona announced plans to rid the city of tourist flats by late 2028, the city’s mayor has described it as a “drastic” but sorely needed move to rein in the surging cost of housing.
“It’s very drastic but it has to be because the situation is very, very difficult,” Jaume Collboni said in one of his first interviews with international media since the June announcement. “In Barcelona, like other big European cities, the number one problem we have is housing.”
The past 10 years have seen rental prices in the city soar by 68% while the cost of buying a house has climbed 38%. As some residents complained of being priced out of the city, Collboni began eyeing up the 10,101 licences the city had handed out allowing accommodation to be rented to tourists through platforms such as Airbnb.
What the Socialists’ party mayor saw was a relatively swift way to bolster the city’s stock of residential homes while also curtailing some of the 32 million tourists who descend on the city of 1.7 million annually.
Also read that they are imposing new taxes on cruise ships. Barcelona is a popular cruise port and they all spend some time as tourists in the city. Always a balancing act between being overwhelmed by tourists while realizing how much they help local business
Cruises are usually worse for a city than hotels economically.
At least with hotels and short term rental, tourists will linger and spend money on the room and dining. That money isn’t spent on the community when people cruise in while tourists still use the tourist facilities.