It seems the crackdown on tourist apartments is beginning to bear fruit. Exceltur, the leading tourism sector association in Spain, has observed a slowdown in this type of accommodation in the 25 Spanish cities most affected by tourism, including Barcelona. Specifically, they estimate a drop of 15,963 tourist apartment beds marketed on various platforms in 2025 compared to the previous year (Exceltur compares the peak season period), representing a 4.1% decrease. Last year ended with 366,000 tourist accommodation beds, according to the association.

As the right and far right are gaining ground in the polls, Pedro Sánchez wanted his first political event of the year, in Malaga, to imbue him with a social discourse that would help him refloat a PSOE party that is going through one of its worst moments. To counter the strain of the Cerdán case, the judicial offensive against his wife, Begoña Gómez, and the Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, and with governability hanging in the balance, the Spanish president wanted to set the agenda with another announcement regarding one of the areas the Spanish government considers a priority. Sánchez announced that the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda will require online rental platforms, such as Airbnb and others, to remove the listings for 53,876 tourist apartments for not meeting legal requirements. These are apartments that requested their mandatory registration number on July 1, but do not meet the requirements. These are homes that, according to Sánchez, can therefore be used for rentals to young people and families.

Faced with the proliferation of tourist apartments, authorities are trying to monitor a market that has gotten out of control. Since July 1, the state registry for legally operating digital platforms has been in effect, adding another layer of control to others such as the Generalitat registry or the licenses granted by Barcelona City Council. According to the latest available data, corresponding to last Friday, Barcelona's state registry lists 6,759 tourist apartments. They represent nearly 68% of the 10,000 apartments with a license granted by the City Council. Therefore, a third have not yet been registered. This does not include illegal apartments, for which there is no exact figure, but the council detects between 300 and 400 monthly.