May 2015. Ada Colau became mayor of Barcelona with a clear idea: to curb licenses for tourist apartments. Her plan had two goals: to reduce the city's dependence on tourism and, at the same time, to cap rent increases.
During her two terms, licenses rose from 9,606 to 10,101. Yes, there were some exceptions in less saturated neighborhoods, and overall, the number barely increased. Even so, rental prices continued to climb: 52.5% higher, while the population only grew by 3.5%. The supply of apartments increased, but demand increased much more.
If we look at the data for each district between 2015 and 2023, there isn't always a direct correlation between high rents and tourist apartments. In fact, according to Idealista, rents rose more in neighborhoods with fewer short-term rental properties. Nou Barris saw a 57.6% increase, Sant Andreu 56.2%, Horta Guinardó 55.6%, and Ciutat Vella "only" 40.5%. But in May 2025, short-term rental properties didn't even reach 0.3% of the registered housing stock in the first three districts. In the historic center, however, they did reach 3.1%.
Now, Jaume Collboni wants to go further than Colau. He has promised to eliminate all short-term rental properties by 2028 if he remains in office. Something Colau never dared to do. According to him, this will make it easier for Barcelona residents to access rental or purchase an apartment.
But, frankly, it sounds like a populist promise. So much so that the city council has commissioned a report from four professors at the Barcelona Institute of Economics to support the mayor. According to that study, eliminating short-term rental properties would lower rents by between 8% and 13.4%, and purchase prices by 6.1%.
I find that hard to believe. And here are my reasons. First, rent control: the Catalan government has designated Barcelona as a high-demand area and has imposed limits. Landlords can only charge market price for apartments less than five years old. And there aren't many of those, because 30% of new buildings (if they exceed 600 m2) must be social housing.
If the apartment is older, or returns to the market after being rented for five years, the landlord has to adjust to the price set by the State Reference System. And if an inherited apartment enters the market for the first time, the landlord has to give the tenant a discount of between 25% and 40%.
If you own a short-term rental property, you would earn less than half of what you would if you rented it out conventionally. Even seasonal rentals are more profitable, although they are less tax-efficient for income tax purposes.
So, if they eliminate vacation rentals in 2028, almost no one will put them up for traditional rental. Some will sell and take the money out of Catalonia. Others will rent them out seasonally, if the law allows it. And there will be those who simply leave them empty, waiting for better times. Most, however, will sue the city council for lost profits, because vacation rental licenses are not temporary, but indefinite.
And what if they suddenly remove rent controls? Even then, not much would change. Most owners would opt for seasonal rentals. And demand would continue to skyrocket, with or without price limits.
And if seasonal rentals were also prohibited, the drop in traditional rents would be small in Ciutat Vella, l’Eixample, and Gràcia, and practically nonexistent in Nou Barris, Sant Andreu, and Horta-Guinardó. So, eliminating vacation rentals is not the magic bullet that some promise. All of this happens, basically, because the first three districts of Barcelona have a much larger existing supply of tourist apartments than the last three. In short, wealthier families benefit, while working-class families hardly benefit at all.
The truth is, there are very few tourist apartments in Barcelona, despite what people think. There are currently 10,295 licenses, but according to the INE (National Institute of Statistics), only 9,579 tourist apartments appear on the main real estate portals. That figure represents 1.26% of all housing and barely 4.3% of conventional rental apartments.
So, even if all those apartments were put on the market, I don't see how the prices of used housing could fall by 6.1%, as the researchers at the Barcelona Institute of Economics claim. And even less so if they were all put on the market at once, which is almost certainly not going to happen.
Firstly, because these apartments have quality amenities and are in prime locations. They are very attractive to foreigners, to Catalan family offices investing long-term, and also to wealthy Barcelonans. In Barcelona, apartments aimed at foreigners sell for more, and this difference is even greater when the market is booming.
Second, because the real estate boom in the city is enormous: demand far exceeds supply. Today, if an apartment is sold at market price, it usually finds a buyer in less than three months. Third, the owners of these apartments are fully aware of their value. They aren't going to sell them to just anyone they want a price.
They won't try to sell quickly, but will wait as long as it takes to get the price they want, or at least something close to it. This is what usually happens with luxury apartments, as long as the market holds and the owner doesn't need the money for living expenses.
Ultimately, eliminating vacation rentals in 2028 won't significantly lower either rent or housing prices. If anyone benefits from their disappearance, it will be upper-middle-class households. Low-income households certainly won't. In districts like Nou Barris, Sant Andreu, and Horta-Guinardó, vacation rentals are practically nonexistent: they don't even reach 0.3% of the total housing stock.
From an economic and real estate perspective, eliminating vacation rentals doesn't make much sense. They generate more revenue for local businesses than hotels because their guests use neighborhood services more. Furthermore, they pay more taxes than other types of housing.
Removing vacation rentals will have two consequences: a shortage of accommodation in the city during major events and less competition in the lodging sector. Ultimately, this will drive up room prices and increase hotel profits.
In practice, this means transferring money from the middle class (who own most vacation rentals) to the wealthy and investment funds that own the hotels. This redistribution directly contradicts what the mayor's party supposedly advocates.