The rental crisis has affected the leader of the Commons in Barcelona: they want to put their apartment up for seasonal rent.

BarcelonaBy the end of 2024, one in five of the new rental contracts signed in Barcelona were already seasonal. According to a study published this Monday by the Metropolitan Housing Observatory, in the Catalan capital at some point last year, this figure reached as high as 31.9%. These figures are based on numerous personal cases, including those of Barcelona City Council members, such as the leader of Barcelona en Comú, Janet Sanz.

The former Councilor for Urban Planning during Ada Colau's mandates took advantage of her speech at the non-permanent housing study committee held this Monday at City Hall to explain her case. She said that when her rental apartment contract recently expired, the owner of the property told her that if she wanted to renew it, it would have to be for a year and as a seasonal rental, which could result in a 50% increase in the price.

"We had a crazy conversation, in which he didn't know he was breaking the rules and that he was making an illegal proposal to me," explained Sanz, who had to explain to the landlord how the law worked and why he couldn't evict her in a few years. However, she used her personal case as an example of what many tenants have to go through, who aren't always lucky enough to know the regulations to be able to defend themselves. For this reason, she has asked the Barcelona government for more education.

This personal comment has ended up leading to an avalanche of criticism of Jaume Collboni's administration, which she has accused of inaction under the pretext that everything must be studied. "You come to the government already studied," Sanz retorted, urging the first deputy mayor, Laia Bonet, to choose "whether she wants to do the right's dirty work by action or omission, or whether she wants to push forward left-wing and progressive policies." Bonet responded to Sanz by emphasizing that seasonal rentals are "a problem that the city has had for years," even when Barcelona en Comú led the municipal government.

A new regulation is underway

Despite the reproaches between the Commons and the PSC, at the end of last year both parties agreed that Barcelona would begin to work on a modification of the Metropolitan General Plan (PGM), which seeks to provide the city council with the necessary tools to restrict seasonal rentals. Specifically, the measure proposes that the PGM establish that the habitual and permanent use of housing is the "priority" in the city and is above temporary use. This new legal framework should allow the City Council to develop, in a second phase, a new ordinance or special plan regulating seasonal rentals.