The Barcelona Círculo Ecuestre hosted the breakfast-colloquium ‘The Barcelona of the Future: The Real Impact of Eliminating Tourist Apartments’ this Tuesday. The event brought together representatives from the tourism, business, legal, and academic sectors to discuss, from a technical perspective, the economic, social, and legal implications of the complete elimination of tourist apartments in the city.
The event featured a welcome address by Enrique Lacalle, president of the Círculo Ecuestre, and presentations by Enrique Alcántara, president of Apartur; Jordi Salvador, manager of Strategy & Economics at PwC in Catalonia; Kike Sarasola, president of Room Mate Hotels; Pablo Molina, urban planning law specialist at Garrigues; and Gonzalo Bernardos, economist and university professor. The session was moderated by economic journalist Umberto Salerno, who led the discussion with the speakers after the opening remarks.
During the meeting, experts emphasized that the European Union will not promote blanket bans on short-term rentals and that any regulation must be based on criteria of proportionality, empirical evidence, and a balance between economic and social interests.
Some of the speakers agreed in warning that the total elimination of tourist apartment licenses in Barcelona, planned by the City Council for 2028, “would seriously harm the city's economy, its international competitiveness, and its capacity to host family tourism, business trips, and major events, without any proven link between these accommodations and the increase in housing prices in the city.”
The debate took place in a context marked by the recent position of the European Commission, which, within the framework of the European Affordable Housing Plan, confirmed that it will not present proposals to ban short-term rentals and that any measures must be proportionate. The European Commissioner for Energy and Housing, Dan Jørgensen, himself has publicly stated that a blanket ban “would be disproportionate” and “not a good idea.”
A call for balanced regulation, in which Barcelona is a benchmark
The speakers agreed on the need for a debate among the authorities, based on objective data and aligned with European criteria, that allows for a balance between the right to housing and a competitive, diversified, and sustainable tourism model.
The president of Apartur, Enrique Alcántara, argued that Barcelona has been a pioneer in Europe in the regulation of tourist apartments and that for more than a decade it has had an orderly, stable model fully integrated into the city. Since 2014, the Catalan capital has maintained a limited and controlled number of licenses, representing around 1% of the total housing stock, with no ability to influence rental prices.
“Barcelona has been a pioneering and successful model due to its regulation of tourist apartments, the quality of its accommodations, and its high-quality clientele, such as families. For years, there has been collaboration between the sector and the city council to guarantee harmonious coexistence with residents and combat illegal activity, requiring a significant effort,” Alcántara pointed out.
The president of Apartur pointed out that the Barcelona model applied so far is being observed by other European cities seeking to regulate the sector without resorting to prohibitions, and warned that eliminating legal licenses could reopen the door to illegal supply, which has been virtually eradicated thanks to regulation and the control mechanisms implemented.
Economic and Employment Impact: Data vs. Perceptions
Jordi Salvador, Strategy & Economics Manager at PwC in Catalonia, presented the main conclusions of the study prepared by the consulting firm on the contribution of tourist apartments in Barcelona. According to this analysis, tourist accommodation contributes approximately €1.9 billion to the GDP and more than 40,000 jobs, both direct, indirect, and induced.
The study also concludes that there is no significant relationship between the increase in tourist apartments and the rise in rental prices, as they represent a very small part of the housing stock. The main factors explaining the price increase are an inelastic housing supply in the face of increased demand associated with economic and employment growth in the city. Salvador also emphasizes that eliminating this type of accommodation will not solve the housing access problem, but it will have negative effects on the city's economy and employment.
The report also highlights the essential role of tourist apartments in accommodating attendees of major professional, cultural, and sporting events held in Barcelona, whose demand could not be fully met by the rest of the accommodation options.
In this regard, it details that, based on publicly available figures from the Barcelona Tourism Observatory, “Barcelona would be unable to offer accommodation to all the visitors who come to the city for leisure and business during major events such as the Mobile World Congress (MWC) or Sónar.”
Accommodation diversity for a diverse city
From a hotel perspective, the president and founder of Room Mate Hotels, Kike Sarasola, defended the need for a global city like Barcelona to have a diverse and high-quality accommodation offering, capable of catering to very different visitor profiles. He emphasized that tourist apartments meet the needs of family tourism, among other profiles.
Sarasola has rejected the option of outright bans and advocated for "smart" regulation that provides concrete solutions to specific problems, such as managing tourist flows to distribute them throughout the city.
The businessman emphasized that coexistence among different types of accommodation is perfectly possible when there is regulation and control, and that targeting one part of the sector weakens the entire tourism ecosystem. "It harms the whole city. We are a whole: hotels, hostels, tourist apartments... all of us providing services to visiting tourists," Sarasola stated.
A Significant Legal Precedent
Pablo Molina, specialist in Urban Planning Law at Garrigues, has warned of the legal and economic consequences of eliminating current building permits, as they represent an acquired right with no expiration date. He stated that this sets a very delicate legal precedent, since the widespread revocation of permits constitutes a form of expropriation that directly affects small savers and families who have invested within the existing legal framework.
“The Catalan government has transformed an indefinite permit into a temporary one, setting a precedent for any sector. Barcelona will become much more legally uncertain, and we will not have solved the housing problem,” Molina pointed out, adding that regulation implies order and control; prohibition implies encouraging illegality.
The legal expert insisted that the European approach clearly defines the limits between legitimate regulation and a disproportionate measure, and argued that there are legal alternatives to total elimination. “Prohibition is a sign of regulator laziness. Regulation must be proportionate, identifying the specific problems of each municipality and establishing concrete rules to address them.”
"Narrative trumps data"
The speakers at the colloquium agreed that the data does not support the approach being taken by the public administration and that the political sphere is conveying a false narrative to the public, one that the figures contradict. Housing prices have risen by 72% in the last decade in the Catalan capital, while tourist apartment licenses have remained stable. Eliminating this type of accommodation would have a negative impact on local sectors such as restaurants, retail, transportation, and culture.
Economist Gonzalo Bernardos was emphatic: “What’s happening is that narrative trumps data.” He also stressed that “there is no link between rising housing prices and tourist apartments in Barcelona” and that “legal certainty is what’s lacking right now.”
The Círculo Ecuestre has extended an invitation to the Barcelona City Council to present its position. In this regard, the Círculo Ecuestre reiterates its willingness to listen to all parties involved and hopes to meet with municipal representatives to incorporate their perspective into an open and impartial dialogue on a matter of importance to the city.