Ben Pawlowski
BARCELONA’S Airbnb owners are demanding compensation totalling €1billion following the city council’s decision to revoke the licences of the 10,000-plus tourist apartments that operate in the city.
In June, Barcelona’s mayor Jaume Collboni put the city at the forefront of a nationwide backlash against mass tourism by announcing that tourist flats will be outlawed by November 2028 in an attempt to relieve the city’s housing crisis which has seen rental prices surge by over 70% in just a decade.
Protestors had argued that short-term rentals, such as tourist apartments offered by Airbnb, take up valuable housing stock and drive up prices, forcing many locals to leave the city centre for the suburbs or nearby towns.
Enrique Alcantara, the president of the Association of Tourist Apartments of Barcelona (Apartur), said the €1billion claim covers ‘losses due to investments made and future earnings’ for around 1,500 properties and 20 property management companies.
That figure could still rise as claims can be submitted until November 8, with estimates that the total sum of compensation claims related to the new legislation could exceed €3billion.
Following the announcement earlier this summer, the Olive Press spoke to several landlords who decried the move as an ill-thought-out ‘populist’ decision which would hit the income streams of hard-working citizens and do nothing to address the root cause of the housing crisis.
Luis, general manager at Aparteasy, a property company that offers short-term rentals through Airbnb, said the move will ‘not solve the problem of housing in Barcelona as it represents only 1.1% of total housing’.
Critcising the decision, Luis said the revoking of licences would give rise to a ‘new black market’, pushing expenditure towards the ‘small rich hands’ of hoteliers and tourist operators.
He also expressed his worry that abolishing tourist apartments, which provide up to 40% of total tourist accommodation in the city, could cause a ‘recession’ with a financial hit for employees, operators, bars, restaurants, taxis, attractions and small business owners.
