Prohibition of holiday rentals in Barcelona: consequences for hosts
Understand what's going on in the world of local accommodation in Barcelona
December 2024
The announcement that the city of Barcelona will be banning all short-term holiday flats has sent the industry into a spin. As a landlord, what do you need to know? Let’s have a look at what this new legislation means and how it could affect you and your business.
Why is there a ban on holiday rentals in Barcelona?
For years, Barcelona has been struggling with a housing crisis. Put simply, the city does not have enough rental properties for its 1.6 million residents. The growth of the holiday rental industry has exacerbated that problem, as many properties in residential areas have been turned into short-term lets.
This has had a number of serious consequences. Rental prices have increased by more than 60% in 10 years, effectively pricing many long-term residents out of the city centre. Residents also regularly complain about tourists behaving badly, causing issues with their antisocial antics in residential buildings. As a result, the city has seen a huge anti-tourism movement, with demonstrations in the streets. The graffiti “tourists go home” has become a sadly common sight in this much-loved city.
Successive mayors have introduced increasingly tough legislation to cut down on the number of holiday lets in the city without much impact. Finally, the current mayor, Jaume Collboni, announced plans in 2024 to ban tourist flats altogether.
How will the ban on rentals in Barcelona work?
Collboni has given a grace period of four years —he intends to ban all tourist rentals in Barcelona by November 2028.
At present, if you want to advertise a holiday home in Barcelona, you need to have a short-term rental licence. Under the terms of Collboni’s plan, no new licences will be issued, and current licences will not be renewed. Effectively, you can continue welcoming guests to rent your house for holidays until the licence runs out, at which point, you will not be able to get a new one.
Collboni anticipates that by November 2028, all licences will have expired. Tourists visiting Barcelona will only be able to stay in hotels.
What happens to rentals in Barcelona?
This is a thorny issue. If you’re a holiday rental host in Barcelona, you can breathe easily — for now. As long as your licence is still valid, you can continue to rent your holiday flat to travellers. There is still time to prepare for the new policy, and to strategise how you will use the flat in the future.
It’s worth noting that many of the problems in Barcelona stem from unregulated holiday rentals. Although, technically, you must have a licence to run a short-term holiday let, a number of unscrupulous landlords operate without one. Many critics of Collboni’s plan say that this is the real concern and accuse him of going too far, attacking legitimate landlords as well as their criminal counterparts.
Have other cities banned holiday rentals?
Barcelona’s measures may seem extreme, but it’s not the only city to introduce this kind of legislation. Most famously, New York City banned holiday flats in 2023. The ban may not have had the effect that the city hoped for —while the Big Apple’s notoriously high rents did not decrease, the prices of hotel rooms shot up nearly 10% in a year.
Several other cities have attempted to introduce bans, but later relaxed them through legislative U-turns. Some cities heavily restrict holiday rentals but don’t ban them completely, such as Berlin and Paris.
Will the ban really take effect?
This question is quite hard to answer. After all, there are still several years to go before Collboni’s November 2028 deadline, and nobody knows how the political landscape will change before then.
Landlords in Barcelona have already protested the proposed ban. The city depends heavily on tourism, with around 150,000 people employed directly in the tourist industry. The consequences of the ban, including the inevitable rise in hotel prices, could be financially devastating.
Sceptics recommend watching to see the ongoing effects of the ban in New York. After all, if it doesn’t work as well as anticipated, then it seems pointless to introduce the same policy in Barcelona.
There are also some fears that the ban could just send the problem out of Barcelona and into neighbouring cities. The municipality of Barcelona is actually very small, and it is extremely close to other urban centres with good public transport connections, like L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Badalona, Sitges, Sabadell and Terrassa. There’s a high chance that the short-term rental industry will spill over into these conveniently-located satellite towns.
It’s also worth remembering that Barcelona will have a municipal election in May 2027 before Collboni’s plan takes full effect. A change of city government could lead to the proposal being scrapped altogether. That being said, holiday rental landlords should start preparing for the worst-case scenario.
What can rental hosts in Barcelona do to prepare?
With so much uncertainty about the future of the holiday rental industry in Barcelona, landlords need to think of an action plan. It’s very important to remember that the city currently has a huge anti-tourism sentiment. This will need to change if the ban is to be reversed. As such, landlords should consider the following steps:
- Support the local economy. This is crucial if you want the citizens of Barcelona to fall in love with tourism again. Consider developing cross-selling promotions with locally-owned businesses and restaurants, and hire maintenance and cleaning staff from local companies.
- Keep everything above board. Ensure that your property has a valid licence. Advertise on a legitimate holiday rental portal. Don’t even think about taking any shortcuts where the law is concerned. Not only could you face a huge fine, but you’ll also prove the anti-tourism movement with fuel for their protests.
- Maintain good relationships with your neighbours. If your holiday rental flat is in a residential building, be sure to listen to the residents’ concerns. Politely advise your guests to behave respectfully when they check in. You might want to consider installing noise detection devices to help find potential antisocial behaviour.
- Remain calm. Most importantly, don’t panic. There are still years to go before the ban is set to take effect, and many things can change before then. Develop a contingency plan, but don’t make any rash decisions.
If landlords behave sensibly and responsibly, then it may be possible to save Barcelona’s tourist industry and change local sentiment. This is a city that once warmly embraced visitors from around the world, and it may do so again. As a landlord, it’s essential that you do your part.