June 21, 2024 – 3:47 pm
By 2028, the Barcelona city government will withdraw permits for all apartments issued to tourists, the Spanish newspaper reported local. Barcelona's socialist mayor, Jaume Colboni, announced on Friday that permits for a total of 10,101 apartments issued to tourists will expire in November 2028.
According to the mayor, it is necessary to put an end to the fact that local young people are forced to move to another city or to cluster due to high prices and the housing crisis caused by mass tourism, because they cannot live in the city.
The announcement affects the urban part of Barcelona, and the mayor also said that in the future, at least 30% of all newly built residential buildings must be declared as social rental housing.
Mass tourism has been a serious problem in Barcelona for many years, and locals are increasingly fed up with this situation. Recently, for example, the bus route to Park Güell was removed from Google Maps, because the flights were constantly full due to the large number of tourists, and elderly locals often could not take it. We recently wrote in detail on Telex about how European tourist centers such as Venice, Amsterdam or even Barcelona are dealing with mass tourism.