Barcelona's Airbnb ban: a sign of things to come?
Crackdown on short-term lets to combat unaffordable housing echoes similar moves elsewhere, but anti-tourism protests could prove self-defeating
The mayor of Barcelona wants to ban short-term holiday lets in the city by 2028 in an "unexpectedly drastic move", said Sky News.
Jaume Collboni said he would drive Airbnb out of Catalonia's capital by not renewing licences for the 10,100 flats approved for short-term rental when they expire in 2028. Those apartments "will be used by the city's residents or will go on the market for rent or sale", he said, which would tackle the "largest problem" in Spain's most visited city.
Critics blame short-term rentals for skyrocketing rents and housing costs that are pricing out locals, amid a growing anti-tourism movement in Spain and around the world. "The decision puts the Catalan city at the forefront of a backlash against the effect of online-based short-stay rentals on cities," said The Times, "with the most radical global measure yet."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
'With hordes of visitors comes great irresponsibility'
Barcelona is the "victim of its own success", said The Times in an editorial. Spain is the second most visited country in the world after France, and Barcelona attracted 10 million visitors last year. But that has created an "explosion in short-term rentals", many of which are advertised through Airbnb.
Rents in the city have increased by 70% over the past decade, and the cost of buying a house by nearly 40%. In 2016, Barcelona became the first major European city to fine Airbnb for its users letting unregistered properties, and cracked down on illegal apartments altogether. No new short-term licences have been granted since, and nearly 10,000 illegal apartments have been shut. Almost 3,500 are said to have been recovered as primary housing for local residents. Collboni believes that this latest move will "restore some fairness to Barcelona's overheated housing market".
You might say Barcelona is "taking back control of its private rental sector from the disruptor platform", said Paul Clements in The Independent – and "there are plenty of places in Britain that would like to follow their lead". Since its European launch in 2010, Airbnb has "dramatically reshaped short-term lettings markets, depleting housing stock with a negative knock-on for residents' rents". Just ask locals in Britain's "prettiest seaside villages – if you can find them".
Local governments in Lisbon, Berlin and the Canary Islands have announced restrictions on short-term rentals, and last September New York began enforcing a 2022 law that banned people from renting their homes for fewer than 30 days – a de facto ban on Airbnb. Similar legislation was set to kick in in Ireland in 2022, but has since been held up.
Yes, AirBnb "helped create new demand", said Clements. It "stretched the average tourist's length of stay", which has enabled "more than $10 billion in tourism taxes to be generated around the world". However, "with hordes of visitors comes great irresponsibility".
'Protesters should be careful what they wish for'
But anti-tourism protesters may be biting the hand that feeds them, said MailOnline. Take Mallorca. Last month up to 15,000 people took to the streets of Palma, the capital of the popular Balearic island, carrying posters that read "SOS residents" and "Enough mass tourism". Similar protests have taken place in Ibiza.
The Balearic president has said that Mallorca's 20 million annual tourists are "not sustainable". But tourism accounts for about 45% of the Balearic Islands' GDP, according to industry organisation Exceltur quoted in The Independent. Nearly half of those living in Mallorca are employed by the tourism industry
And protests are already putting off visitors. About 44% of those recently polled by Majorca Daily Bulletin said they would think twice about booking a holiday to the island. "If this survey is accurate, local protesters should be careful what they wish for," Paul Charles, CEO of travel consultancy The PC Agency, told MailOnline. It would be "a disaster for the area if the protests, however valid, cut off the flow of visitors and reduce income".
In Barcelona, Collboni is "making a mistake that will lead to higher poverty and unemployment", said the city's tourist apartments association Apartur.
Ultimately, the sentiment against mass tourism is understandable but "the dangers are obvious", said The Times. After all, 11% of Spain's GDP comes from tourism. "Regarding the hospitality industry, the clue is in the name. Barcelona may come to regret its hostility to visitors."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Harriet Marsden is a writer for The Week, mostly covering UK and global news and politics. Before joining the site, she was a freelance journalist for seven years, specialising in social affairs, gender equality and culture. She worked for The Guardian, The Times and The Independent, and regularly contributed articles to The Sunday Times, The Telegraph, The New Statesman, Tortoise Media and Metro, as well as appearing on BBC Radio London, Times Radio and “Woman’s Hour”. She has a master’s in international journalism from City University, London, and was awarded the "journalist-at-large" fellowship by the Local Trust charity in 2021.
-
Cutting cables: the war being waged under the sea
In the Spotlight Two undersea cables were cut in the Baltic sea, sparking concern for the global network
By The Week UK Published
-
How people-smuggling gangs work
The Explainer The Government has promised to 'smash' the gangs that smuggle migrants across the Channel. Who are they and how do they work?
By The Week UK Published
-
Crossword: December 1, 2024
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Volkswagen on the ropes: a crisis of its own making
Talking Point The EV revolution has 'left VW in the proverbial dust'
By The Week UK Published
-
Homebuyers are older than ever
The Explainer Rising prices and high mortgages have boxed millennials out of the market
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Could 'adult dorms' save city downtowns?
Today's Big Question 'Micro-apartments' could relieve office vacancies and the housing crisis
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Why do Russian oil bosses keep dying?
Under the Radar There have been 'at least 50' mysterious deaths of energy company executives since Putin ordered Ukraine invasion
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
The row over UK maternity pay
Talking Points Tory leadership hopeful Kemi Badenoch implied that taxpayer-funded benefit was 'excessive' and called for 'greater responsibility'
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Post Office: still-troubled horizons
Talking Point Sub-postmasters continue to report issues with Horizon IT system behind 'one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British legal history'
By The Week UK Published
-
A new stimulus might (or might not) jump-start China's economy
Talking Points Fears of social instability drive rate cuts
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
The UK's national debt: a terrifying warning
Talking Points OBR's 'grim' report on Britain's fiscal outlook warns of skyrocketing spending, but 'projection' is not a 'forecast'
By The Week Published