A crucial municipal plan to regulate seasonal rental properties in Barcelona faces a perilous path, complicated by mounting political tensions between left-wing parties within the City Council. The proposal, intended to curb short-term lets that bypass rent controls, will be voted on in the March plenary session, but approval remains uncertain.

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Sources within the Barcelona City Council indicate that relations between the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and Barcelona en Comú (BComú) are particularly difficult. This makes a unified vote alongside Mayor Jaume Collboni’s Socialists’ Party of Catalonia (PSC) highly unlikely. Indeed, these three progressive parties are the only potential backers of the new regulation, known as the Modification of the Metropolitan General Plan (MPGM).

Mayor Collboni himself acknowledged the precarious situation during the February plenary. “My responsibility as a government is to bring serious issues like the MPGM for seasonal rentals to a vote with the maximum guarantees of being approved,” he stated, then pointedly warned, “In fact, it is not guaranteed yet.” According to a report by TOT Barcelona, that sentiment remains valid as the situation has not improved.

A Pattern of Disagreement

This is not the first time the proposed regulation has hit a roadblock. In January, for instance, the measure was defeated in the Urbanism Commission after ERC voted against it. The plan, expected to be debated there again this week, was conspicuously absent from the final agenda. BComú sources reported the mayor’s office informed them the issue would instead be addressed directly at the full plenary session in March.

The tensions over housing policy are symptomatic of a wider friction between the city’s progressive forces. During the same February session, Mayor Collboni reproached BComú’s leader in the council, Gemma Tarafa, about the dangers of “wearing down the complicity that exists between progressive forces.” This comment came after BComú abstained on a proposal by PSC and ERC to create a study commission on preventing speculative property purchases. The eco-socialist party argued for more direct action, favouring an immediate change to the city’s planning laws to prohibit such sales – a strategy that aligns with proposals for tax increases for non-resident buyers to cool the market.

Catalan Law Provides a Safety Net

Despite the uncertainty at the municipal level, the regulation of seasonal rentals in the city is somewhat assured. In December, the Parliament of Catalonia passed a broader law designed to close the legal loophole. This loophole allowed landlords to offer contracts of up to 11 months, thereby evading rent caps applicable to long-term housing.

The regional law received support from PSC, ERC, Comuns, and CUP. At the time, Mayor Collboni celebrated its passage, stating it “ends” the “fraudulent evasion” of rent caps. He insisted the measure was “long demanded” by the municipal government and carried “full legal guarantees,” having been endorsed by the Consell de Garanties Estatutàries, Catalonia’s council for statutory guarantees.

The city’s proposed MPGM will serve as the local instrument for implementing this regional law, preserving housing for permanent residents. However, without its approval, Barcelona may have less specific control over how the regulations apply. First Deputy Mayor Laia Bonet stressed last October the need to develop the regulation “with technical rigour and legal security.”

The municipal plan has also drawn significant opposition from outside the council chambers. Opponents have filed 16 formal allegations, including from private individuals, companies, political groups, professional bodies, and real estate associations.

Opponents argue that the proposal infringes on the right to private property by imposing disproportionate restrictions. Some challenges also question the City Council’s legal authority to regulate the matter, claiming it falls under the exclusive competence of the Spanish state or the regional Government of Catalonia.

Should the MPGM manage to pass the city’s plenary vote in March, the Generalitat’s Barcelona Urbanism sub-commission will receive the file for its final approval. If it fails, the city will have to rely solely on the framework of the Catalan law. This could potentially mean losing a critical tool for shaping its own housing landscape in a city grappling with an affordability crisis.