Spain has declared the Airbnb war. So hotels have uploaded prices

Last week the Ministry of Consumer claimed Airbnb that Block about 66,000 “illegal” ads of tourist apartments spread throughout Spain. The fight against Break of Tourist Floors In our country it continues to give many headaches, but blocking those ads points to a direct consequence already known and feared by tourists.

New York is more exclusive. The city that never sleeps He planted face to short -term rentals offered by Airbnb, VRBO or Booking. The goal was to alleviate the abuses and exorbitant prices with which the New Yorkers dealt every time they had to look for residence. Eighteen months later the conclusions of the measures were worrisome and universal: the prices of the floors that were maintained in that catalog of services rose, and what people did when looking for rentals to live (not holidays) was New Jersey end.

And the lesson of Barcelona. The city is the only one that has limited tourist floors since 2014. This would allow many of them to return to the traditional rental market and thus the average rental price would fall. As indicated in In the countrya PWC report demolishes those two myths after analyzing what has happened since 2014 to 2023 in that city:

1. The accumulated growth of traditional rentals has been 2.2%, totally insufficient. Much of the homes that were rented via Airbnb have not returned “to the traditional market
2. The rental price has fired 72% in that period

More expensive hotels. And those who have benefited from the situation have been hotels. In 2024, the average price per room and night It was 187.8 euros In Barcelona, ​​8% more than in 2023 and 30% more than in 2019. Barcelona is already the third most expensive destination in its hotel offer in Spain only behind Marbella and the Balearic Islands, according to a study by Cushman & Wakefield’s consultant.

12,000 empty homes. The Apartur Association of Tourist Apartments in Barcelona indicates that there are 12,000 empty homes that do not go on the residential rental market. They do not according to them for two reasons: the price limitation, which reduces profitability, and the High Okupation. The solution would be to offer both legal certainty and tax incentives for owners. Otherwise, those responsible for the association say, the situation will continue to be equally problem or more.

Madrid points to the same (worrying) destination. The housing problem goes beyond tourist floorsand although the intention of the Ministry of Consumer is good, it is not likely that these more than 65,000 homes will pass to the residential market to relieve the situation. A report From ESADEECPOL reveals how homemade prefer seasonal rentals (between 1 and 12 months) because it does not force signing five -year contracts or limiting prices as in some areas (Caraluña, the Basque CountryNavarra and Asturias).

The other consequence: empty houses. Adolfo Meras is the president of Madrid, an association that represents 5,000 homemade housing housing. According to him, “there are many homemade who They leave their empty houses due to the lack of guarantees and because they are not willing to do without their homes during the five years that the Law of Urban Leases marks. “They prefer to have their empty houses to be able to dispose of them occasionally and if they need it, to rent them with the conditions imposed by the law currently.

My apartment like bonus. The Mabrian firm has conducted a tourist offer monitoring study, and according to data cited in the country, the photo of the tourist rental is different from the one that We imagined. Tourist floors are not controlled by large funds: large holders (more than 11 homes) represent 2% of total hosts. Individuals (a home), 74.1% and small holders (two to 10), 23.9%. Three out of four hosts, therefore, “use their properties as a route to obtain additional income, while extending the ability to accommodate tourist accommodation in the destinations,” emphasizes Carlos Cendra, partner of Mabrian.

Tourism punishment. The limits that have been imposed on Airbnb in the past in cities such as Barcelona or New York, and that gradually leave extending to other citiesthey are not relieving the housing problem because those tourist floors They do not become residential rentals. The direct consequence is the rise in prices in the existing tourist offer, both in Airbnb or Booking and in hotels, something that ends up being a problem for tourism. It can reduce it, which will placate the anger of those who criticize mass tourism, but it does not seem to be causing these cities to solve their housing problem.

Image | Jorge Fernández Salas

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