Barcelona’s Mayor has announced plans to ban short-term rentals for tourists in the city by 2029.
Jaume Collboni announced the move to the city council on Friday, in a bid to tackle rent increases which have risen by almost 70% in the past 10 years.
Speaking at a news conference, the Mayor said the ban would mean the licences for 10,101 apartments that currently offer short-term rentals would not be renewed after November 2028.
Posting on X, formerly Twitter, he said: “We want to guarantee the right to live in Barcelona and deal effectively with the housing crisis we have been suffering for years.”
The move has been met with backlash, however. The Telegraph reports Damià Calvet, a councillor from the separatist party Together for Catalonia, called the plans ‘improvised’, ‘ideological’ and ‘not based on legality or the regulation of the rents themselves’.
In a statement reported by The Guardian, Barcelona’s tourist apartments association APARTUR said: “Collboni is making a mistake that will lead to (higher) poverty and unemployment.”
A licensing system has been in place for Airbnbs in Barcelona since 2011, and in 2015 former Mayor Ada Colau prevented owners letting out single rooms.
Over recent years other popular tourist destinations have announced restrictions on short term rentals. Last year, Florence banned any new listings in the city centre, and Lisbon added a number of restrictions to help combat the shortage in housing for locals.
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Jaume Collboni announced the move to the city council on Friday, in a bid to tackle rent increases which have risen by almost 70% in the past 10 years.
Speaking at a news conference, the Mayor said the ban would mean the licences for 10,101 apartments that currently offer short-term rentals would not be renewed after November 2028.
Posting on X, formerly Twitter, he said: “We want to guarantee the right to live in Barcelona and deal effectively with the housing crisis we have been suffering for years.”
The move has been met with backlash, however. The Telegraph reports Damià Calvet, a councillor from the separatist party Together for Catalonia, called the plans ‘improvised’, ‘ideological’ and ‘not based on legality or the regulation of the rents themselves’.
In a statement reported by The Guardian, Barcelona’s tourist apartments association APARTUR said: “Collboni is making a mistake that will lead to (higher) poverty and unemployment.”
A licensing system has been in place for Airbnbs in Barcelona since 2011, and in 2015 former Mayor Ada Colau prevented owners letting out single rooms.
Over recent years other popular tourist destinations have announced restrictions on short term rentals. Last year, Florence banned any new listings in the city centre, and Lisbon added a number of restrictions to help combat the shortage in housing for locals.
The post Barcelona plans to ban holiday rentals appeared first on Travel Gossip.
Continue reading...
