Airbnb is urging Barcelona to reconsider the crackdown on short-term rental accommodation for tourists, as the city continues to struggle with the impact of overtourism
Airbnb is urging the authorities in Barcelona to reconsider its crackdown on short-term rentals in the city.
Online marketplace for short-term and long-term homestays, Airbnb, is calling on those in charge in the Spanish city to rethink its approach to short-term rentals in the city, as new data shows its policies are failing to resolve housing and overtourism challenges. Data gathered by Airbnb over the past decade, reveals that challenges related to housing and overtourism are worse than ever, despite the crackdown on tourist accommodation licenses being introduced in Barcelona 10 years ago.
Over the past decade, Spain has built fewer homes than at any point since 1970, but demand for new homes has increased dramatically. The number of Airbnb listings has also fallen over the past decade, yet rent and house prices have risen to record highs.
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According to Airbnb: “Since Barcelona’s clampdown on short-term rentals began, rents have risen by 70 per cent, while the average price of a home has increased by 60 per cent.” The number of vacant homes also outnumbers the number of short-term rentals by eight to one.
Hotels have benefitted from limits put in place back in 2014, as according to Barcelona Tourism official figures, 75 per cent of tourists in 2023 stayed in hotels and hostels. In addition, in the Old Town of Barcelona – where the negative consequences of overtourism are the most evident – there are six times more hotel beds than short-term rentals.
Airbnb claims that hotels are dominating in the tourist accommodation sector, and that this will continue as local governments across the country, including in Barcelona, have authorised plans to build over 800 new hotels. Airbnb also stated that this will mean creating 75,000 new hotel rooms, with almost 90 per cent of them allocated to existing tourist hotspots.
“Just like in New York City, Barcelona’s decade-long clampdown on Airbnb is failing to deliver on its promise to combat overtourism and the housing crisis,” said Theo Yedinsky, VP of public policy at Airbnb. “The only winner from Barcelona’s war on short term rentals is the hotel industry, which is rapidly expanding and increasing prices. We encourage Barcelona to rethink its approach, because it’s clear that Airbnb is not the cause of historic challenges in the city.
“We are eager to work with leaders on new rules that support local families who host, and make tourism more sustainable for everyone.”
On its newsroom page, on its website, Airbnb stated: “Airbnb has worked diligently with Barcelona to enforce existing regulations and has removed over 7,000 listings from the platform since 2018. However, it is clear that these measures have not produced the desired results. Airbnb is committed to working with governments worldwide to promote responsible tourism that makes communities stronger.”
Plans to announce all short-term rental properties in Barcelona were announced back in June of this year. The citywide ban would see to address complaints that tourism is to blame for the local rise in rent in Barcelona. As part of the ban, the Spanish city would stop giving out new licenses and also wouldn’t renew existing ones.
This would mean that in 2029, no homes will have permission to be rented out as tourist accommodation. In June, the number of houses registered as rentals for tourists was about 10,000.
