Faced with the potential closure of their business in 2029, Barcelona's tourist apartment owners have decided to go on the offensive. On Monday, September 16, Apartur, an association representing nearly 7,000 of the 10,000 legal tourist rentals in the Catalan capital, announced a wave of legal action against the Generalitat, the Catalan government. "The decision to eliminate tourist apartments represents a loss of revenue and threatens the recovery of investments made by owners. It's a form of expropriation, an attack on property rights. The total claims we are collecting already exceed €1 billion. And this is just the beginning..." warned Marian Muro, managing director of Apartur, who made no secret of her anger.

On June 21, Barcelona's mayor, the socialist Jaume Collboni, caused a sensation by announcing the elimination of all tourist apartments in the city by November 2028. His decision was based on a Generalitat decree, approved last November, which limits the validity of "tourist licenses" to a maximum of five years. These licenses allow property owners to rent out their accommodations to tourists and visitors in the Catalan capital. Previously, these permits were permanent. At the end of the five-year period, the decree gives each municipality the power to decide whether or not to renew the licenses. In February, the People's Party (PP, right-wing) lodged a complaint with the Constitutional Court. Pending the Spanish Supreme Court's decision, Barcelona's Socialist mayor has taken the most radical decision: to abolish Airbnb.

"The city cannot afford such a high number of tourist apartments in an obvious context of housing access difficulties and the negative effects of mass tourism," justified Collboni. He pointed out that over the past 10 years, rents in the city have risen by an average of 68%, even though Barcelona has prohibited new tourist rentals since 2014. "Adding 10,000 apartments to the real estate market is a smart decision," he repeated in July on Cadena Ser radio. "It's the equivalent of 10 years of average private housing construction in the city (...) And nobody likes to have tourist apartments in their building..."

In fact, in the city of Barcelona, the possible abolition of tourist apartments seems to have the support of residents. "It seems like a very good measure to me: we need to regulate Airbnb, focus on quality tourism that attracts people who respect the city and its people, and use apartments to house ourselves," said computer programmer Alvaro Molina, sitting on a terrace in the central Poble Sec district with friends, all of whom nodded in agreement. "I’ve done the math, and I’ll have to live with my parents for another six years before I can hope to buy an apartment," added the 32-year-old.

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