HIBAPRESS – Barcelona: Omar Al-Razzini
The city of Barcelona has made a decision that is considered one of the most courageous in its modern history, which stipulates the end of tourist rental licenses by November 2028, in an attempt to return thousands of apartments to the residential market designated for permanent residents. The decision, which some have described as a "historic transformation," aims to address the housing crisis that has plagued the city for years.
This step did not come out of nowhere, as Barcelona witnessed a huge increase in rental prices during the last decade, exceeding 60%, due to the boom in short-term tourism and the spread of platforms such as Airbnb. Property owners found in renting apartments to tourists an opportunity to make double profits, which led to a decline in supply for local residents and a rise in prices to record levels.
Also, historical neighborhoods have turned into something like "open hotels," and the city has gradually lost its social character. Many families were forced to leave Barcelona for distant suburbs, while young people and immigrants found themselves unable to find decent and affordable housing.
Among the most affected groups, the Moroccan community stands out, which is considered one of the largest foreign communities in Catalonia, as the number of its members in Barcelona alone is estimated at about 19,000 people. Despite their great economic and social contribution to the city, many of them suffer from hidden discrimination in the rental market.
Immigrants are often required to provide exaggerated financial guarantees or permanent employment contracts that are difficult to obtain, while other applications are rejected simply because of their name or nationality. As a result, the possibility of obtaining suitable housing for them has become very limited, which has caused civil associations to ring the alarm about the exacerbation of housing discrimination.
The municipal decision was supported by the Spanish Constitutional Court, which confirmed that the use of real estate for tourism purposes is not an "absolute right," but can be restricted for the public interest. This position gave Barcelona strong legal cover, and opened the door for other Spanish cities to adopt similar policies in the future.
Implementation plan: From tourism to local housing. According to the new plan, no tourist rental license will be renewed after 2028. The apartments that were used for this purpose will be gradually converted to long-term rentals or allocated to social housing. The declared goal is to "return the city to its residents" and restore the balance it lost due to excessive tourism.
However, the municipality faces major challenges in monitoring the market and preventing the emergence of unlicensed apartments that are secretly managed via the Internet, which requires strengthening control and using modern technologies to track violations.
Despite the wide welcome for the decision, housing experts believe that returning 10,000 apartments to the market will not be sufficient to solve the crisis unless it is accompanied by supporting policies, such as increasing social housing programs and tightening control over real estate speculation.
Activists warn that the absence of parallel measures may turn the freed apartments into luxury properties that only the wealthy benefit from, which excludes immigrants and the working class again from the circle of benefit.
Barcelona's decision may become a turning point in the relationship of Spanish cities with the tourism and housing market. Cities like Girona and Tarragona are closely following the experience, and may follow the same approach soon.
In this sense, the decision is not considered a mere administrative procedure, but a declaration of a new vision that restores respect for the right of residents to a decent life, and puts an end to the dominance of the logic of profit at the expense of social justice.
The coming years will show whether Barcelona will be able to turn this bold step into an urban model to be emulated, or whether the crisis will return in new forms. But what is certain is that the city has finally decided to say: Housing is a right… not a commodity.
