Hoteliers are now calling for the rescue of half of Barcelona's 10,000 tourist apartments.

BarcelonaThe president of the Barcelona Hotel Association, Jordi Clos, called this Tuesday for saving half of the city's 10,000 tourist apartments to meet the full demand, breaking away from hoteliers' traditional rejection of apartments. A request that was immediately and categorically rejected by Barcelona's Deputy Mayor for Economy and Tourism, Jordi Valls, who put a stop to yet another demand from the sector.

For Clos, the problem is the apartments found on blogs where residents live, "a cancer that is creating difficulties for citizens." According to the association's calculations, around 5,000 tourist apartments should not have their licenses renewed and should be used as housing. "When all these licenses expire, half of the 10,000 will be converted into housing," Clos argued in a debate organized by Foment del Treball.

Regarding the other half of the apartments, he advocated analyzing which are necessary and which are not, taking into account that attendees at certain events held in the city cannot afford the current hotel capacity. "The availability of these spaces is necessary, not individual tourist apartments but entire buildings," he emphasized.

In addition to refusing to save half of the licenses, Barcelona City Council also disagrees with the proportion presented by the Hotel Association. According to municipal sources, individual tourist apartments represent 85% of the total, compared to 15% found in buildings with more than five apartments. Of the blogs dedicated exclusively to tourist apartments, there are only about twenty properties in the entire city. Furthermore, the majority are located in the Eixample, an area where the Special Urban Plan for Tourist Accommodation (PEUAT) determines that no more tourist accommodation can be opened.

"The main challenge this city faces is housing. What we have to try to achieve is that what is considered residential housing returns to the market where it belongs, that is, the residential market," Valls countered. "Are tourist apartments the housing problem in Barcelona? The answer is no; it's much more serious than that. We have a very significant supply problem, but tourist apartments aren't helping," he added.

The deputy mayor also pointed out that the PEUAT includes 4,000 hotel beds outside the most stressed areas, beyond the city center. He cited as examples hotels that have opened in Sant Adrià del Besòs and Hospitalet de Llobregat, where increasing tourist pressure is also being felt. "The supply is also metropolitan. Today, a person who comes to the Mobile could be in Girona, Sitges, L'Hospitalet, or Passeig de Gràcia," he emphasized.

The tourist tax does not discourage tourism.

Another issue straining the relationship between the City Council and hoteliers is the tourist tax, with the proposal to raise it from the council to the Parliament. "There is a ceiling, and I think we're on it," stated the president of the Hotel Association, concerned about the loss of competitiveness the city could suffer at events like the MWC if it continues to rise. Since the tourist tax came into effect in 2012, Valls has pointed out that tourism has not been discouraged, but quite the opposite, with record-breaking years that have led the sector to unprecedented figures.

"The fact that 15 million people come here has an impact on transportation, cleanliness, and safety. That must be paid for, and the tourists must pay for it," the Socialist leader emphasized. In the case of public transportation, he advocated for tourists to contribute even more to its funding. "It has a very high level of tax relief, and we're interested in tourists paying part of it. I want the tax relief to go to people who want to go from Besòs to Passeig de Gràcia, but tourists shouldn't necessarily live off that tax relief," he said. He also noted that the 120 million euros annually contributed by the tourist tax have made it possible to avoid raising taxes on residents and SMEs between 2023 and 2026.