Spain is finding innovative ways to reduce tourist apartments, even banning them entirely in some places.
In Spanish cities who suffer from excess tourism Regulations have been gradually introduced to help regulate the figures, including limits on the number of tourist rentals.
Despite this, Spanish Government statistics show that The number of tourist apartments has increased by nine percent in the last year, with more than 340,000 currently registered. This means that in some cities there is one tourist rental for every 1.5 square kilometers and for every 139 inhabitants.
But tourist overcrowding is only part of the problem. The other is the grave crisis of housing in Spain, which makes fewer and fewer people can afford rising rents and purchase prices. Many young people, in particular, cannot access accommodation and are forced to live at home well into their thirties.
The proliferation of Airbnb-type apartments is contributing to this situation by driving up market prices, as well as reducing the availability of properties for locals.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Barcelona announced the most drastic measure till the date: the intention to eliminate all tourist rentals by 2028. The response of the Catalans and the large foreign population, which already reaches 25%, was uneven.
Citizens welcome Spain’s measures
“In summary, It is positive news for the Catalans“says Mika Casalis, a resident of the city. “Every summer the rent skyrockets.”
Amanda Ditzler, who I lived in a building with 15 Airbnbs, do you agree. “I felt insecure,” she says. “On weekends the building was invaded and many tourists treated the facilities like a hotelleaving destruction, playing loud music, etc.
“I think people should be able to use their property however they want, but I also think that if you treat your residence like a commercial business you should have different rules and strive to respect the lives of others“.
But foreign residents Brian Lund Larsen and Alex Nowakowski are not convinced that removing them will really solve the housing problem.
“I’m not sure what I’m going to do.” a lot for the rental pricesbut I don’t really care either: I just I don’t want to be woken up by tourist parties drunk in the middle of the night or finding them passed out half-naked on our stairs in the morning,” Brian says.
“Eliminating thousands of legal Airbnbs in a city of 1.6 million people is not going to solve the problem,” says Alex. “If anything, it will only light a bigger fire under the already present rental black market. “I think we need to focus more on building more homes.”
Where else in Spain are drastic measures being taken against tourist apartments?
But Barcelona is only one of the cities in the long list of Spanish destinations that oppose tourist rentals.
In April, in Madrid -city with more than 14,000 tourist apartmentsalmost double that of Barcelona-, the City Council announced that would temporarily suspend the granting of new tourist licenses.
While in May, the Valencia City Council also said that would suspend the granting of new licenses for at least a year, with the possibility of extending it for another year. More recently, Valencian police have cracked down on illegal tourist apartments and increased fines for violations.
Sevillaalso decided last month that it would not renew any tourist rental licenses in the main neighborhoods of the historic center.
ADVERTISINGMálagathe third city with the most tourist apartments in Spain, despite being the sixth in population, has also introduced restrictions. It no longer allows new tourist apartments to operate unless they have their own independent entrance. As most are located in apartment buildings, it ensures that fewer people can apply for licenses.
“There is a real estate crisis that cannot be ignored,” says Hanni Martini, a food expert based in Malaga. “I don’t know which one it is the answerbut of course It’s not about making tourists feel unwelcome.“Málaga, like many Spanish provinces, depends a lot on tourism. It is our main industry.”
Most tourist rentals belong to large companies
Some people argue that removing tourist apartments means that locals will not have the opportunity to make money from their properties and create their own income to benefit from tourism. But the truth is that most homes are owned by large companiesnot from individuals.
For example, according to the City Council of Barcelona, only 34.8% of tourist license holders own a single apartmentthe rest have five or more.
ADVERTISINGIn general, it seems that the people of Barcelona consider that these measures are at least a step in the right direction, although they are not enough to solve all the problems.
