Barcelona pledges to drive AirBnb out of town inside 5 years

Barcelona will ban AirBnb apartments in a desperate bid to stop rents spiralling and protect locals from the effects of mass tourism.

Mayor Jaume Collboni pledged that there will be no tourist apartments in the Spanish city by 2029.

If legislation is approved by the Generalitat of Catalonia, municipal governments will impose the ban on AirBnbs by refusing to issue new licenses as well as not renewing existing ones.

Mr Collboni believes this move will open up the market for more short-term lets and make Barcelona more affordable for young people who have been forced out due to soaring rents.

Rental prices in Barcelona have increased by around 70 per cent in the last decade, while the cost of buying a house has risen far more slowly at 39 per cent.

The Spanish politician said rents were ‘skyrocketing’ and young people and those on averages salaries were being pushed out of the city due to unaffordable housing.

On Friday Mr Collboni said: ‘We need housing supply to grow so that people do not have to move out of the city and so that housing prices do not rise and start to fall.’

A licensing system for AirBnbs was introduced in Barcelona in 2011.

Four years later, former Mayor Ada Colau – who is known for his anti-AirBnb stance – prevented property owners from letting out single rooms, according to The Times.

In a further crackdown on mass tourism, the Spanish city raised its ‘tourism tax’.

Travellers can now expect to see a hefty €3.25 or $3.52 added to the foot of their accommodation bill for every night spent in Barcelona.

Over 12 million tourists visited the picturesque city in 2023 – many flocking to attractions such as the Sagrada Familia, Las Ramblas alley and Park Guell.

Damià Calvet, a councillor from the separatist party Together for Catalonia, called Mr Collboni’s new plans ‘improvised’, ‘ideological’ and ‘not based on legality or the regulation of the rents themselves’.

Maria Harris, of industry body, The Open Property Data Association, said the Mayor’s decision ‘comes down to politics’.

She added: ‘A lot of younger people are being forced to leave the city. 

‘Lots of lower income families can’t find rental accommodation. He [Mr Collboni] thinks the answer is to reduce the amount of homes for tourism.’

And the war on tourism wages on elsewhere in Spain.

Tourists in Costa Blanca could be fined up to €200 or £170 for buying souvenirs from unlicensed sellers.

Meanwhile boozy holidaymakers will be banned from drinking on public streets in Magaluf.