Barcelona will ban them short rentals. The Spanish city, one of the most visited in the country, has decided to block authorizations for holiday homes due to their unsustainable impact on the real estate market. Mayor Jaume Collboni stated that by 2028, no such facilities will exist in the entire city.
Short-term tourist rentals are often identified as one of the causes of the increase in house prices and rentals especially in large Italian cities. In historic centers in particular, the presence of a large number of apartments dedicated to this use has had serious effects on the real estate market.
Barcelona wants to ban short-term rentals
The mayor of Barcelona Jaume Collboni announced a crackdown on houses dedicated to short-term tourist rentals in the city. By 2028, all such businesses in the Catalan capital will be closed.
“We cannot allow the majority of young people who want to leave the family home to have to leave Barcelona. The situation will not change overnight, these problems take time. But with this provision we mark a turning point” declared the mayor, underlining how it has been in existence for the last ten years AirBnb, the main web platform that has allowed the explosion of these activities, rental prices have risen by 70% and property prices by 40%.
Barcelona already rules since 2014 short-term tourist rentals in a very stringent manner, with a licensing system. Since then, every 5 years, there are 10 thousand titles that the municipality renews to private individuals upon payment. However, at the next deadline, in 2028, the city will no longer issue any licenses. In this way, 10 thousand houses should return to the real estate market, lowering prices especially in some neighborhoods of the Spanish city.
Do short-term rentals have an effect on prices? The situation in Italy
Even if the increase in house prices a Barcelona is not entirely attributable to the success of AirBnb alone, a study published in 2020 in the Journal of Urban Economics demonstrated how, precisely in the Spanish city, taken as a case study, short-term rentals have caused significant increases in house prices. On average, rents grew by 1.9%, but in certain areas, where a large part of these structures are concentrated, an impact of 7% was achieved.
The reality of Barcelona is similar to that of many Italian cities that have problems with their real estate market. Milan it is the most famous in this area, with very high house prices and an equally high number of apartments dedicated to short-term rentals, especially for the various international events that the city hosts. There would be a total of 20 thousand houses for tourists in the Lombard capital, a figure defined as too high even by the mayor himself Beppe Sala.
Even in other cities, especially those with a tourist vocation such as Florence And Rome, but also Bologna, the presence of a very high number of houses dedicated to short-term rentals has caused problems both for the real estate market and for the urban fabric. For example, the decrease in residents is depopulating the central neighborhoods, making them less habitable and prompting a further increase in holiday homes.
