One of the main complaints of the entities for the right to housing is that tourist apartments have multiplied in recent years, to the detriment of the park available to city residents. But not because new apartments have been built, but because of the ease with which an owner could convert his property into a housing for tourist use (BUT).
To address this situation, the ERC Government approved a decree law in November 2023 that eliminates eternal licenses for tourist apartments. According to this regulation, Owners must renew planning licenses every five years with the approval of the city council or, otherwise, cease its activity. The regulations were to be applied in 242 municipalities, but have finally only been implemented in 140, defined as stressed areas, after the socialists asked to reduce their scope.
In June, Mayor Jaume Collboni expressed his desire to convert Barcelona’s 10,000 VUT into residential housing by 2028. “The city cannot afford such a high number of tourist apartments in a context in which the difficulty of access to housing and The negative effects of tourist overcrowding are evident,” he said then. The question is: Why has a five-year margin been granted and the regulation not been applied immediately?
Precisely to “compensate” the owners who will not be able to continue doing business in the future. According to the spokesperson for the Llogateres Union, Enric Aragonés“with its urban planning, the Generalitat could have made the new licensing system for VUT come into force immediately.” Nevertheless, to avoid lawsuits for loss of profits“a five-year transitional regime was established.”
1 billion compensation
And the complaints have arrived. Last week, the Association of Tourist Apartments of Barcelona (Apartur) demanded 1,000 million in financial liability, a figure that, according to its president, Enrique Alcántara, covers “losses from investments made and future profits”. This calculation could increase until November 8, the deadline on which the period for filing grievances ends and which coincides with the first anniversary of the law.
“All the exploitation they can do during these five years is already compensation. The law explicitly says so. Therefore, we understand that This Apartur demand has no scope“, says Aragonès. Although he does not share the need for the transitional period, he emphasizes that it is not arbitrary, but is based on European regulations.
Regarding the criticism of the general director of Apartur, Marian Muro, who described the regulation as “covert expropriation”Aragonès refutes that it is “urban planning.” “Just because they have an apartment does not mean that they can do whatever they want. The administration plans and distributes the uses, as well as determines in which areas you can build and in which you cannot because they are green areas,” he adds.
Indeed, it will be the town councils that will decide how many tourist licenses they grant based on the sufficiency of the land intended for permanent housing, but they will not be able to exceed the maximum of 10 licenses per 100 inhabitants. The Deputy Mayor of Economy of the Barcelona City Council, Jordi Valls, asked himself in a press conference last week where the 1,000 million came from. “If they believe this claim, they will probably alter the market,” he said, noting that the decree “does not expropriate anything.”
Aragonès also criticizes that the owners invoke the “legal certainty” when “the rules change”, but not when a contract ends and they want to increase the price by 50% or evict the tenant to make tourist rentals. According to the Sindicat de Llogateres, the town councils should not assume the responsibility of whoever wanted to exploit the licenses for the VUT.
What will a reduction in tourist apartments mean?
Although the reduction in tourist apartments can reduce tourist overcrowding, it will not solve the problem on its own. housing crisis. “There is a city and country model that is completely oriented towards tourism and, therefore, many more things have to change,” laments Aragonès.
Furthermore, he insists that an effective body will be necessary to “inspect who breaks the law” so that no one profits from this unlicensed economic activity. “Barcelona had a strong campaign to inspect illegal tourist apartments. Collboniwhen it arrived, dismantled part of this unit. Now he says publicly that he will allocate more resources, but it is not very clear to what extent this is being done,” he adds.
However, the spokesperson calls for citizen “proactivity” so that, if they suspect the existence of tourist apartments without a license, they inform the administration.
