Despite being one of the most visited cities in the world, Barcelona made the baffling decision in 2015 to ban new hotel construction in the city center and recently decided to cancel the licenses of over 10,100 tourist apartments. As a consequence, the city now faces compensation claims for up to €3 billion.
At a meeting Monday, Enrique Alcántara, President of the Association of Tourist Apartments of Barcelona (Apartur), announced that claims totaling more than €1 billion have already been filed, with the figure expected to reach up to €3 billion by November 8.
The claims are justified by the current and projected monetary losses incurred by 1,500 property owners and 25 management companies due to the new mayor Jaume Collboni’s plan to revoke all tourist apartment licenses by 2028.
But that’s not all—the measure has been extended to 262 other municipalities across Catalonia, where local councils will only be allowed to approve licenses for 10 tourist apartments per 100 inhabitants, provided there is enough available land to build residential housing.
The move will affect a large number of the existing 95,000 tourist apartments, whose owners plan to make similar compensation claims for up to €7 billion at a regional level.
According to the Govern, there is a direct correlation between the increase in tourist apartments and the reduction of long-term rental housing.
“This trend makes it even more difficult for individuals and families to access regular homes at a time of rising demand,” said an official.
The “Hypocrisy” of the Government
According to a 2023 decree, the approval of tourist apartments in Catalonia requires that city councils first approve a so-called Land Use Plan, including these licenses. Since Barcelona has no plans to do so, all current licenses will be automatically canceled around November 2028.
Collboni justifies his decision by citing the massive housing crisis in Barcelona, where renting is now 68% more expensive and purchasing a property is 38% more costly than in 2014, making the city increasingly unlivable for locals.
Regarding this matter, tourists and digital nomads have been largely blamed for these rises.
As reported by an impressive number of international media outlets during the summer, over 3,000 Barcelona residents took to the streets to protest against mass tourism and the rising housing costs using plastic water pistols to spray anyone who “looked” like a tourist.
Many protesters went even further, cordoning off restaurants and hotels with red tape typically used by police at crime scenes.
Amid chants of “Tourists go home” and “Barcelona is not for sale,” Socialist Collboni announced the ban on tourist apartments on June 21 to curb this phenomenon.
However, the mayor is “a hypocrite” says Alcántara, because he plans to approve the construction of new hotels in “residential land,” as long as they have “cultural purposes,” which is currently forbidden.
“The ‘supposed’ solution of building more hotels instead of allowing tourist apartments [to fight overtourism] is hypocritical because many hotels in Barcelona are built on residential land. A large number of hotels operating in the city center are built on lands where Barcelonans used to live.”
The government “has destroyed thousands of homes in an irreversible way. On the other hand, tourist housing is the most sustainable solution and only takes up 1% of the housing stock in Barcelona,” concludes the president of Apartur.
40% of Barcelona Tourists at Risk
The implementation of this regulation will negatively impact at least 40% of Barcelona’s tourists, according to the tourist apartment association’s manager, Marian Muro.
This is just “a disguised expropriation of a right,” Muro adds, arguing that the construction of new hotels “does reduce housing.”
The most concerning fact is that this is just one more measure in a series of decisions the city has made since the administration of Ada Colau, a former Okupa (squatter) turned mayor.
The general perception among locals is that since her administration, issues related to tourism, tourism taxes and insecurity have spiraled out of control, affecting visitors and locals alike.