Major Euro hotspot looks to ban short term rentals for tourists

For plenty of travellers, booking a short-term rental like an Airbnb is a way to save some money on an overseas trip.

But tourists looking to visit the major European hotspot of Barcelona may be out of luck, as the city’s mayor looks at banning short-term rentals from 2029.

Mayor Jaume Collboni said the Mediterranean city will stop giving new licences and won’t renew existing ones so that by 2029, no homes will have permission to be rented as tourist accommodation.

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The plan aims to try to control “skyrocketing rental prices” for locals living in the Spanish city.

“More supply of housing is needed, and the measures we’re presenting today are to provide more supply so that the working middle class does not have to leave the city because they can’t afford housing,” Collboni said.

“This measure will not change the situation from one day to the next. These problems take time. But with this measure we are marking a turning point.”

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In 2023, the city was visited by 16 million tourists, according to the Barcelona Tourism Observatory. Meanwhile, rent prices per square metre increased 14 per cent in the 12 months through April, according to property listings website Idealista.

There are currently close to 10,000 tourist apartments in the Catalan capital.

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The announcement sparked some debate among people online, with plenty agreeing something needed to be done to help struggling locals.

“I understand Spain’s economy is highly dependent of tourism but short-term rentals need to be regulated. Currently it is virtually impossible to find a long-term rental in most cities of Spain,” one person commented in a discussion on Reddit.

Meanwhile, some others thought the plan was “unfathomable” and would “negatively affect tourism”.

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