Barcelona’s fourth deputy mayor has spoken out about tourist flats. Jordi Valls stated that having 10,000 properties dedicated to tourism isn’t helping the housing crisis. These flats serve economic purposes rather than residential needs.
Valls made the comments on Wednesday during a Catalunya Radio interview. He explained the city’s fundamental problem is supply. Barcelona sits between two rivers, the sea, and mountains. Its capacity for growth is complex and limited.
The council remains committed to eliminating all tourist flats by 2028. However, Valls acknowledged public services can’t solve everything alone. The city must incentivise private capital investment as well.
Meanwhile, second deputy mayor Maria Eugenia Gay raised a different concern. She told Beteve on Thursday that property owners fear renting to problematic tenants. The worry about non-paying occupants is real, she argued.
ERC’s municipal leader Elisenda Alamany wasn’t having it. She fired back on X, telling Gay to ‘come down to Earth’. Alamany urged her to focus on renters’ difficulties instead.
Alamany spelled out the reality. People with jobs can’t afford rent. They’re forced to share flats despite working full-time. Moreover, landlords pressure tenants to leave so they can sell to expats at higher prices.
Just Tuesday, the city took action on tourist flats. Mayor Jaume Collboni’s administration signed an agreement with the Urban Property Chamber and the Barcelona-Lleida Property Administrators’ College. Ironically, ERC had proposed this deal to the government.
The agreement encourages residents’ associations to limit tourist use. They can draft new statutes or modify existing ones. The goal is preventing activities that harm community living in apartment buildings.
The council is putting money behind it. The agreement includes 100,000 euros in municipal funding. That breaks down as 4,000 euros for each institution. Another 36,000 euros will subsidise professionals’ fees for drafting new statutes.
Furthermore, 56,000 euros covers costs that residents’ associations face during the process. The funding aims to make it easier for communities to act against tourist flats.
The debate exposes tensions within Barcelona’s government. Some officials emphasise landlord concerns. Others point to renters struggling with sky-high prices. Tourist flats sit at the centre of both perspectives.
The 2028 deadline for eliminating tourist flats is ambitious. Whether the city can actually achieve it remains uncertain. For now, those 10,000 properties continue operating whilst the housing crisis deepens.
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