Airbnb stated that it has removed over 7000 listings from its platform in Barcelona since 2018.
Airbnb, the global vacation home rental company, has urged the mayor of Barcelona to reconsider a crackdown on short-term rentals that is becoming more widespread, claiming it only benefitted the hotel industry but failed to address the housing crisis and over-tourism.
Earlier, the City of Barcelona drastically limited the ability of regular individuals to share their homes by freezing the licensing of tourist accommodations. Advocates stated that this was necessary to address housing and over-tourism challenges.
The latest data shows that the number of short-term rentals has decreased, but challenges related to housing and over-tourism are more severe than ever.
Sara Rodriguez, head of Policy for Spain and Portugal at Airbnb, wrote to Mayor Jaume Collboni that the hotel industry is the only one benefitting from Barcelona’s war on short-term rentals.
To control the high rents for residents, Collboni announced a plan to close all short-term rentals by 2028.
Airbnb argued that previous policies made by Barcelona that imposed strict restrictions on licenses of tourist accommodations in the city center since 2014 didn’t prove effective.
Other cities have also introduced similar measures.
New York, Vancouver, and Tokyo have insisted that hosts must reside in the flats they rent. San Francisco and Seattle restrict the number of properties a single host can list. Dallas has outlawed short-term stay apartments in some neighborhoods. London, Amsterdam, and Paris restricted the number of nights one can rent the house annually.
Berlin implemented the strictest regulations out of all cities.
It implemented a ban that the entire residences should not be given for short-stay rentals. However, the city later revoked the law and replaced it with more lenient limitations and higher penalties for violating after realizing that complete prohibition was difficult to enforce.
According to Barcelona’s urban planning department representative, renting rooms for visitors was already banned in the city.
Due to a lack of competitors, which resulted in a near monopoly in Barcelona, hotels have increased their prices to an all-time high.
Official data shows that long-term rents have increased by more than 70%. Over the last ten years, the average cost of a hotel room in Barcelona has increased by almost 60%, and the number of short-term rental homes reduced by half to 8842 last year from the 2020 level.
Despite a dramatic increase in demand, Spain has built fewer houses in the last ten years than it has since 1970. Official data also shows that vacant homes in Barcelona outnumbered shorter-term rentals eight to one.
Airbnb stated that it has removed over 7000 listings from its platform in Barcelona since 2018 and that policies that address this problem of empty houses are more likely to increase the supply of affordable houses than cracking down on Airbnb.
The mayor stated that he wants more hotel space in Barcelona but will not allow the building of new hotels in the city center.
Exceltur, the Spanish travel industry association representing major hotel chains, travel agencies, tour operators, and airlines, has advocated that they want strict regulation of short-term rental platforms, pointing out that holiday homes have gone out of control in Spanish cities.
According to Theo Yedinsky, VP of Public Policy at Airbnb, the Barcelona regulation is not solving the issues but only benefitting the hotel sector, which is rapidly growing and increasing rates. Airbnb is not to be blamed for the historic problems in the city, so the government should reconsider its strategy.
Airbnb is willing to collaborate with policymakers on new regulations that will help the local families who host and increase the sustainability of tourism for everyone.
Authorities in the EU, Spain, and Catalonia have questioned the rules in Barcelona as not being fit for intended use, raising questions about their necessity, fairness, and effectiveness.
Local hosts are arguing in court for these regulations, highlighting the need for a fair strategy that accounts for the interests of all parties involved.
