Airbn-bye: Barcelona bans short-term apartment rentals for tourists
- Reference: 1719296896
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/06/25/airbnb_barcelona_ban/
- Source link:
Barcelona mayor Jaume Collboni [1]said last week that the city planned to let all of the 10,101 tourist rental licenses granted to local landlords expire when they timed out in four years. [2]The city hopes the move will help it deal with a years-long housing crisis exacerbated by the entry of organizations like Airbnb and Vrbo, which Collboni said had driven rents up by 68 percent in the past decade.
Barcelona's housing office explained that the tourist rental ban wasn't being enacted as part of a new law, but was rather due to a [3]decree law [PDF] passed by the Parliament of Catalonia in 2022 that allows officials in the region to force landlords to offer affordable housing.
[4]
The decree law, originally passed in 2019, gives officials the right to "compulsory expropriation" of housing properties that have been "vacant without justified cause" for over two years, or those that qualify as protected housing that "is not used as a habitual and permanent residence" – namely, a short-term tourist rental.
[5]
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"We are confronting what we believe is Barcelona's largest problem," Collboni [7]reportedly said at a government session last week. Skyrocketing rent prices and a shortage of available properties have been [8]an issue in Barcelona for years. The city has long marketed itself as a [9]hub for tech companies , which has also been blamed for the rise in rents.
[10]Italy seizes from Airbnb $836M in alleged unpaid taxes
[11]Airbnb warns hosts who use indoor security cameras they may face eviction
[12]Airbnb sees AI as its ticket to become a sprawling Big Tech giant
[13]Airbnb hosts less likely to accept bookings from Black people than Whites
Barcelona's move to claw back those apartments is authorized by the decree law, the city declared, "to ensure that as many apartments as possible are used for residential and non-tourist purposes, thus increasing the city's housing stock."
"By November 2028, there will be no tourist apartments in Barcelona," city officials noted, with considerable finality.
Both Airbnb and Vrbo, two of the top short-term rental providers, heavily market their presence in Barcelona. Given they both stand to lose considerable revenue from the city's move – not to mention the effect the decree law may have had on their rentals outside the city elsewhere in the region – it would make sense the pair would have some strong opinions.
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Neither responded to our requests for comment, and neither has released a public statement as of writing.
That said, politicians in Spain and a local tourist rental advocacy group [15]both argued the move is a bad one. Politicians claimed the move will infringe on private property rights, and landlord advocates say it will only lead to a boom in illegal apartment rentals. ®
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[1] https://twitter.com/jaumecollboni/status/1804120546298282020
[2] https://www.habitatge.barcelona/en/noticia/noves-mesures-per-fer-front-a-lemergencia-dhabitatge-i-augmentar-loferta-dhabitatge-2_1413347
[3] https://www.cuatrecasas.com/resources/legal-flash-catalan-emergency-housing-act-act-1-2022-622f0b9a81e19667421564.pdf?v1.1.10.202201191812s
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZnqVOYy6-U8o14XHm6w2CgAAARY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZnqVOYy6-U8o14XHm6w2CgAAARY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZnqVOYy6-U8o14XHm6w2CgAAARY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/top-tourist-destination-barcelona-plans-shut-all-holiday-apartments-by-2028-2024-06-21/
[8] https://www.ft.com/content/d82f2c93-ab1b-46c7-b25f-ba768b813267
[9] https://www.barcelona.cat/internationalwelcome/en/news/barcelona-beats-its-own-record-for-international-tech-hubs-1377187#:~:text=Barcelona%2C%20a%20nerve%20centre%20of,capitals%20in%20attracting%20technology%20hubs.
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2023/11/07/italy_hits_airbnb_with_836/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/11/airbnb_bans_indoor_security_cameras/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/14/airbnb_q4_23/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/12/14/airbnb_hosts_race_study/
[14] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/personaltech&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZnqVOYy6-U8o14XHm6w2CgAAARY&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[15] https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cv22ygyzxnzo
[16] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Alternatively….
Let’s hope the council now plan to deal with the problem by building extra lodgings out of town but with frequent and cheap mass transit into the tourist areas.
Airbnb et al may make a lot of money but other tourist locations are available…..
Re: Alternatively….
A number of popular destinations are wrestling with the problem of getting people out of the tourist areas. Barcelona has stopped publishing the timetables for some bus routes because the locals are struggling to get to and from work. Investment in tourism doesn't necessarily provide returns for local people. The most obvious example is Venice which has largely ceased to function as a residential area.
Whereas tourism has sometimes lifted formerly isolated rural economies out of poverty - Spain and Portugal's coastal resorts spring to mind - it can be an economic trap: the jobs that are created are mostly low-wage hospitality gigs or temporary construction jobs and subsequent generations end up leaving to get better jobs elsewhere.
We seem to have reached the point either that not enough other tourist locations are available, or, more likely, people are increasingly going to the places they've seen on social media and creating a snowball effect by posting their own visits to those same places on social media. And also the point at which frustration with tourism is turning towards hostility to tourists. The solution to that is not to bus them in in greater numbers.
Re: Alternatively….
They have hotels in Barcelona, you could stay in one of those.
Or, when I visited, I stayed in a hotel in Madrid, and took a day trip to Barcelona on the AVE.
Re: Alternatively….
Well, that's partly the point. People are paying near hotel prices to stay in apartments and this is both increasing capacity and driving up rents. More Silicon Valley "disruption" in action.
I suffer this problem
I do live in Barcelona in a building where there are currently three flats operating for tourists fairly near a very well known landmark, so the pressure is really high on the neighbourhood.
Besides the skyrocketing prices (if I wasn't living in a property flat bought many years ago when they were still affordable I couldn't live there at all), another problem from tourist flats is one of noises and other misbehaviours. Loud night parties are a rule on these flats, and for those who have to work for a living it's a issue if you can't sleep well. Local police are routinely called but they never come.
However, this move will mean absolutely nothing, because all three flats are unlicensed and no measure at all has ever been taken to remedy them. For two of them the owner should be fined, but either they are not or the fines are being passed as a "operation tax" if fines are not high enough.
The third one is more problematic: the law only relates to landlords who directly operate them, but this is actually on a long term rent and those are who actually re-rent the flat as a touristic. In this scenario they're operating in a void of law: the owner is off the hook on this because his rent contract is allowed, and there is no provision for renters who re-rent: only the owner could do something, but if this assures him that rent will be paid and a bit more, he has no real incentive at all.
Furthermore, this coming from a mayor who, on the tenure of his own strong opposition to this kind of drastic measured when the former mayor pursued them (Ada Colau, you may have heard of her and her strong position against massive tourism), and the quite long term of the effective application of the measure, gives me zero confidence that that will take effect, not even if it would be effective.
Meanwhile, the insomnia days have already begun.
Re: I suffer this problem
Yep, Colau got far more criticism for far less and was also was taken to court for it.
If anyone believes there are just 10000 tourist flats in Barcelona I've got a bridge to sell them. As well as reducing tourist licences which is what Calau tried to do, the town hall really should be going after unlicensed flats in any way possible. Fining tourists who break noise rules, fining AirBnB for listing non-licenced flats, etc...
Re: I suffer this problem
They should go for AirBnB. Once there are no legit licenses, all listings will be illegal. Make AirBnB cough up the names and addresses. Internet companies are actually a single weak link in illegal activity once you target them.
Simple solution to complex problem
I personally think there needs to be a combination of laws and actions to address the root cause, not the symptom.
One law I saw that made sense (can't remember where) - new builds are only available to owner occupiers for 5 years. This stops investment companies bulk buying apartment complexes for either short term let or rent out at market rates. This drives down cost to buy.
Have state and local government build high quality social housing, as in Vienna, and rent control it. This drives down cost to rent and discourages sub-letting as anyone doing it could lose their favourable rent.
Give tax relief and protection to those who rent out part of their own home, for AirBnB or students or whoever. This increases room utilisation without driving out locals and helps distinguish between "BnB" and hotel.
Increase taxes on empty residential property. It can be cheaper to leave an apartment empty and wait for it's resale value to increase than to let someone live there.
Good. Hopefully a few other tourism destroyed cities follow suit.