Barcelona faces a housing crisis marked by a shortage of affordable rentals and the significant impact of tourist apartments (VUTs) on the residential market. To guarantee the right to live in the city, the City Council has launched Pla Viure, a comprehensive strategy that combines regulation, housing development, and the recovery of tourist apartments. This measure aims to balance the supply between tourist and residential use, improve community relations, and reduce rental and purchase prices.
Why is the Barcelona City Council pushing for the end of tourist apartments (VUTs)?
Access to housing is one of the city's biggest concerns. Under Mayor Jaume Collboni's Pla Viure strategy, the City Council seeks to guarantee the right to live in Barcelona, prioritizing affordable housing through a comprehensive policy that combines regulation, new housing development, rehabilitation, and property purchases. The repurposing of more than 10,000 tourist apartments for residential use is part of these measures and will be implemented starting in 2028.
What is the legal basis for this measure?
The decision not to renew tourist apartment licenses is based on a 2023 decree-law from the Catalan government, which requires prior authorization in municipalities with a strained market. Furthermore, the Constitutional Court, in ruling 64/2025, upheld the measure, recognizing that it protects the right to housing without infringing on property rights. This decision also follows European jurisprudence, such as the Cali Apartments case in Paris, which allows for limiting tourist use for reasons of public interest.
What impact will this have on rental and purchase prices?
According to the Barcelona Institute of Economics, the return of these properties to the residential market could reduce rents by between 8% and 13.4% and purchase prices by 6.1%. This measure complements the rent control already observed in 2024 and 2025, when rental contracts fell from €1,193.4 to €1,135.5 per month.
How will it affect employment and the economy?
The measure will have a limited economic impact: barely a 0.04% reduction in the city's GDP and a drop of between 0.35% and 1.35% in employment. The City Council has prepared guidance and retraining programs for 8,000 potentially affected people and aims to generate 180,000 new jobs with the Barcelona Impulsa plan, focusing on quality employment, local businesses, and new economic sectors.
How will it affect neighborhood life and tourism?
The elimination of short-stay tourist accommodations (VUTs) seeks to reduce problems of coexistence, such as noise and the constant turnover of visitors, which, according to the 2024 Tourism Perception Survey, bother 63.7% of residents. The measure does not compromise tourism capacity: Barcelona and its metropolitan area have more than 146,000 hotel beds, with plans for 5,000 new beds in the city and 15,000 in the metropolitan area.
The ban on tourist apartments in Barcelona responds to a housing emergency, aiming to recover more than 10,000 homes for residential use and offer potential accommodation to some 25,000 people. The measure has strong legal backing, will reduce rental and purchase prices, will have a limited economic impact, and will improve community relations without affecting the city's tourism capacity. Overall, it is a comprehensive strategy to guarantee the right to housing and strengthen Barcelona's urban sustainability.
Prez, M. et al. (2026) La Generalitat Proh, El Mundo. Available at: https://www.elmundo.es/economia/vivienda/2026/02/19/6996c77be4d4d876518b4571.html (Accessed: 20 February 2026).
