Last week, the Spanish Supreme Court ruled that Barcelona’s plan to ban all short-term rentals in 2028 does not infringe property rights. This is a huge blow to Airbnb, VRBO and other startups in the industry. Last year, there were 94 million tourists, and Spain was France’s second largest global leader after France. In Spain, Barcelona is here with tourists in Madrid.
After years of anger over the cost of housing, the Catalonian region passed a decree in 2023 that allowed municipalities to ban short-term rentals. Last summer, Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni announced that he would throw away thousands of rental permits in 2028.
Now, it’s three years away, and we’ll see if the politicians there still have such a drastic move to the stomach. But my intuition says yes. Tech companies have hardly done what has left themselves in trouble, a backup strategy after years of. Five to ten years ago, the general feeling about Airbnb and Vrbo was often “Thank you Airbnb”, but lately it has been “Oh my goodness, I wish I had another option.” Fees, cheap global decor, etc. This is why I am optimistic about a company like A Good Accommodation.
The details of the housing problem in Barcelona (low pay, high restrictions, attractiveness to a billion people in Spain) are unlikely to be mitigated by 2028.
It’s a simple math problem when you combine thousands of beds each night with an existing ban on new hotels in central Barcelona. Hotels will be able to pay high fees, and travel costs to Barcelona will soar. I’m not sure where this line will be charged until people stop moving forward.
There are real risks in Barcelona. Tourism is a huge economic driver, with hundreds of businesses building around current tourism figures.
But if I haven’t read in Barcelona yet for a day trip, then I’d be worried that I’m most worried about. Spain has an excellent train system and is deregulated in 2020 to make private operators more affordable. It’s only 2.5 hours from Madrid to Barcelona, or dozens of minutes from nearby towns. As the Baselion knows from the cruise industry, one-day travelers are The worst Visitors to the destination.
