Spain: Crackdown on illegal holiday rentals in Barcelona /update 1

Event

Widespread discontent among the local population in Barcelona has led the regional government to announce a crackdown on illegal holiday rentals. Officials hope to better enforce the current licensing regime for the online marketplace and hospitality users by hiring dozens of new inspectors.

Temporary rental companies such as Airbnb have been accused of driving prices up, effectively rendering long-term rentals inaccessible for local residents and reducing long-term housing availability in the city. According to the head of urban planning in Barcelona, there are between 5000 to 6000 unlicensed tourist flats in Barcelona. The government is now actively working with Airbnb to better regulate prices as well as to remove commercial operators from the website.

Similarly, the government in the Balearic Islands has enforced a new set of regulations to respond to mass tourism by penalizing landlords for advertising unlicensed accommodations, with fines of up to 40,000 euros. As a reminder, a cap on the number of tourist beds available and an outright ban on temporary rentals in all residential buildings in the popular vacation destinations of Majorca and Ibiza has recently been put in place.

Context

These new measures follow some minor protests in Barcelona and in the Balearic Islands, which denounced the effects of mass tourism on the working class and on Catalonia’s wild life. Anti-tourism graffiti has been sprayed on walls and public buildings in Barcelona and various radical-left wing groups have staged a series of symbolic protests. The groups claim that mass tourism is proliferating seasonal, low-paid jobs and driving up the cost of living for locals.

On July 22, vacationers in a restaurant in Palma de Mallorca were attacked by the left-wing, pro-independent group, Arran, who threw confetti and set off firecrackers. The same group has claimed responsibility for a series of other actions, including vandalizing buses, painting anti-tourism graffiti, and repeatedly puncturing bicycle tires.
Furthermore, authorities in the Balearic Islands have asked Spain and the EU to enforce a ban on alcohol on flights and in airports due to a number of alcohol-fueled brawls and incidents of sexual assault or harrassment.

Advice

Travelers are advised to follow all local regulations.