Spanish city declares all-out WAR on tourists as rental apartments BANNED

[Streetwalker]

I'm fairly sure it's not going to happen.

Well no its not , it was just a view and maybe a hope for the next generation .

[papasmurf]

Yeah but you'd go one step further and bar all tourists

No-one wants to ban all tourists. It is the over tourism that has now wrecked Cornwall because it has taken all but 192 of the rental housing. There is now nowhere for the staff the over tourism needs to live. That plus the high cost of tourist accommodation leaves tourists with no money to spend. Allegedly tourist numbers have started to drop. However where I live is still rammed by 10.00 hours.


Cornish holiday industry hit as tourism reaches the 'lowest point for 10 years' - Cornwall Live

[Nick]

Yep I agree there are too many people in the country and is certainly a contributing factor to house prices .Builders though have always lagged behind demand so as to maximise profit
The capitalist economy will work fine within a housing market that is structured to the benefit of society as a whole . It will just have to learn to play within new rules

I'm fairly sure it's not going to happen. 

[cromwell]

It could do with such a similar policy in Cornwall.

Yeah but you'd go one step further and bar all tourists 

[Streetwalker]

Totally disagree, you can't have a capitalist economy where you block certain sectors just cause others aren't doing as well. Housing is suffering because there are too many people in the country.

Yep I agree there are too many people in the country and is certainly a contributing factor to house prices .Builders though have always lagged behind demand so as to maximise profit 
The capitalist economy will work fine within a housing market that is structured to the benefit of society as a whole . It will just have to learn to play within new rules 

[papasmurf]

My policy on this would be that no person is allowed to own more than one home . That would flood the market and probably crash the price of housing to a more realistic level that would become affordable for most .

It could do with such a similar policy in Cornwall.

[Nick]

Good on the Catalans ,its something we should do and even take it further
. Housing is one of the things that brings out the socialist in me ,its a human right to have affordable housing and isnt something that should be money making scheme for investors .
Ive no truck with investors but go and do it somewhere else, you know buy gold or something . Housing is for people to build their lives around and  build communities . You can't do that when you don't know from one week to the next where you will be living or who your neighbour is going to be .

Holiday rentals ,what the Catalans are on about is a big problem for a lot of tourist towns especially the affordability for  local people .It does seem very unfair (I'll give my far right political head a wobble in a minute) that holiday homes stand empty for months on end when local families have to move out to cheaper areas

My policy on this would be that no person is allowed to own more than one home . That would flood the market and probably crash the price of housing to a more realistic level that would become affordable for most .

Totally disagree, you can't have a capitalist economy where you block certain sectors just cause others aren't doing as well. Housing is suffering because there are too many people in the country.

[Streetwalker]

Good on the Catalans ,its something we should do and even take it further 
. Housing is one of the things that brings out the socialist in me ,its a human right to have affordable housing and isnt something that should be money making scheme for investors .
Ive no truck with investors but go and do it somewhere else, you know buy gold or something . Housing is for people to build their lives around and  build communities . You can't do that when you don't know from one week to the next where you will be living or who your neighbour is going to be .

Holiday rentals ,what the Catalans are on about is a big problem for a lot of tourist towns especially the affordability for  local people .It does seem very unfair (I'll give my far right political head a wobble in a minute) that holiday homes stand empty for months on end when local families have to move out to cheaper areas 

My policy on this would be that no person is allowed to own more than one home . That would flood the market and probably crash the price of housing to a more realistic level that would become affordable for most . 

[GBNews]

Spanish city declares all-out WAR on tourists as rental apartments BANNED

Spain's second-largest city has declared an all-out war against tourists as 10,000 short-term rentals look set to be reclaimed for housing.

Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni said on Friday that the City of Counts would scrap the licences of the 10,101 apartments currently approved as short-term rentals by November 2028.

Collboni said: "We are confronting what we believe is Barcelona's largest problem.

"Those 10,000 apartments will be used by the city's residents or will go on the market for rent or sale."

In a follow-up statement, he added: "We want to guarantee the right to live in Barcelona and deal effectively with the housing crisis we have been suffering for years.

"For this reason, from the city council, we act: No tourist flat in Barcelona. We will recover the current 10,101 ... homes... We improve the 30 per cent rule to make the promotion of affordable housing in the city effective. Administration, society and the real estate sector must join forces to protect the right to housing."

Spain's Socialist Housing Minister Isabel Rodriguez supported the move.

She said: "This is what it is about – making all the necessary efforts to guarantee access to decent and affordable housing.

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"You have my full support in this task. Barcelona will eliminate the city's tourist apartments in five years."

Barcelona's Tourism Observatory claimed the Catalan capital received 16 million tourists in 2016.

However, a pushback against tourists has engulfed other parts of the Iberian country.

Mallorca and Ibiza have been among the areas staging a fight back against tourists.

Restrictions on rentals have been put out in Spain's Canary Islands, Lisbon in Portugal, and Berlin, Germany.

Holiday rental platform Airbnb has not yet responded to the move.

Barcelona's tourist apartments association APARTUR said the ban would trigger a rise in illegal tourist apartments.

"Collboni is making a mistake that will lead to (higher) poverty and unemployment," it said.

However, the move is an extension of a current policy preventing new tourist apartments in the city in recent years.

Barcelona ordered the shutting down of 9,700 illegal tourist apartments since 2016 and close to 3,500 apartments have been recovered to be used as primary housing for local residents.

Source: Spanish city declares all-out WAR on tourists as rental apartments BANNED