EXCLUSIVE: Properties in Spain as soon as occupied by locals at the moment are being marketed to vacationers, forcing residents from their neighbourhoods in lots of fashionable vacation hotspots.
Airbnbs in Spain are being blamed for hovering rental prices, forcing locals from their neighbourhoods (Picture: Getty)
Pissed off residents say they’re being pushed out of their houses by skyrocketing rents, largely pushed by short-term leases (STRs), which go away their neighbourhoods like “ghost cities” for many of the yr. For a lot of travellers, STR web sites like Airbnb and Reserving.com have revolutionised the best way holidays are deliberate and loved. Residences and homes as soon as occupied by locals at the moment are being marketed to vacationers, promising reasonably priced stays and the possibility to reside like a neighborhood – one thing that conventional lodges and luxurious villas can’t present. The expansion of those platforms has helped tourism unfold deeper into residential neighbourhoods, reshaping many main vacation locations within the course of.
Nevertheless, whereas holidaymakers profit from this enterprise, the speedy rise of STRs has come at a value to year-round residents. Locals are grappling with housing shortages, rising prices and the gradual erosion of their neighbourhoods as they’re pressured to maneuver away to seek out cheaper lettings. Tourism was meant to generate income for native economies and assist the communities that host it. Nevertheless, questions at the moment are being raised about who the trade is really serving.
The disaster is especially acute in Spain, the world’s second-most fashionable vacationer vacation spot behind France. Spain has seen a major increase in its STR market, significantly since COVID-19 and the reopening of borders.
Menys Turisme, Més Vida has known as for a ban on STRs (Picture: Getty)
“In La Barceloneta, Ciutat Vella, residential buildings used to deal with hospitality staff. Now they’re virtually solely rental residences listed for vacationers,” Steven Vigor, CEO of Revigorate, advised the Specific. “Consequently, tourism operators battle to rent domestically. Workers can not afford to reside close to their jobs and are pushed into lengthy commutes.
“Finally, individuals cease relocating to manage and easily transfer, leaving Barcelona with out the workforce it depends on.”
The identical drawback is going on within the Balearic Islands. The grassroots social organisation, Sindicat d’Habitatge de Palma, is preventing in opposition to property hypothesis and defending the best to housing for locals in Majorca.
“The housing scenario in Majorca has undoubtedly acquired worse since we launched three years in the past,” Miquel Duran, a spokesperson for the platform, advised us. “Now we’re getting increasingly individuals struggling who’ve a steady earnings. The scenario is so dangerous that even these persons are discovering themselves on the road; they haven’t any different.
“At this time, 70% of individuals’s earnings goes into having a roof over their heads, after which they’re left with €300 [£261] to feed their youngsters.”
STRs have ‘opened the door’ for Spain’s housing disaster, Mr Duran says (Picture: Getty)
Mr Duran added that STRs have “opened the door” for the housing disaster. He defined that whereas the properties are packed in the course of the peak vacationer season, exterior of this era, “you have got complete cities which can be like deserts within the winter”. “It’s a ghost city for 9 months of the yr,” he added.
Mr Duran’s organisation had seen proof of property homeowners changing their long-term leases (LTRs): “They’ve to seek out excuses to complete a contract and dedicate it to an STR. You discover many circumstances the place homeowners attempt to pressure individuals out,” he claimed.
In the meantime, Júlia Isern, a spokesperson for Menys Turisme, Més Vida – a pro-resident motion which has known as for a ban on STRs – advised the Specific: “I’ve buddies who’ve been pressured to reside on a distinct island, and daily they must commute throughout simply to go to work.
“You see the age [of people leaving] their dad and mom’ home getting older and older, as a result of we can’t afford to purchase a home for ourselves,” she added.
Why landlords are shopping for into the STR gold mine
Many landlords can generate almost 4 occasions extra earnings via STRs (Picture: Emily Wright with Numbeo/ Airbtics knowledge)
The typical every day charge for a typical Airbnb in Barcelona in 2025 was €168 (£146), in keeping with Airbtics. In the meantime, Numbeo reported that the common month-to-month hire for a neighborhood in a one-bedroom flat in Barcelona’s metropolis centre is €1,366 (£1,185). With these figures, a landlord might earn the identical quantity generated in a month from a long-term resident in simply eight days from a vacationer.
At a worth of €168 a day, by working an STR, a landlord might earn €5,040 (£4,374) in 30 days – earlier than tax and different bills like cleansing charges – or 269% extra.
MAPPED: Vacationer housing and rental markets in contrast
In September 2025, the European Parliament analysed the impression of STRs on entry to reasonably priced housing within the EU. It concluded that in locations with tight housing markets, STRs had “contributed to a lower within the provide of long-term leases; added to the prevailing rise in rental and sale costs; and fuelled the displacement of long-term residents,” particularly in sure neighbourhoods and small vacationer cities.
In these areas, “the excessive ratio of STRs relative to the full housing inventory has put the prevailing socio-economic material beneath important strain,” it added.
With this in thoughts, when knowledge on rental housing costs in lots of Spain’s vacationer hotspots is instantly in contrast with the variety of vacationer houses – particularly in contrast with areas that many foreigners have by no means heard of – the hyperlink is stark.
Residents in cities like Madrid and Barcelona are dealing with eye-watering rents and big numbers of vacationer houses. In line with Idealista’s knowledge, in December 2025, Madrid topped the charts at €20.80 (£18.10) per sq. metre per thirty days, with 18,555 vacationer houses in keeping with the INE knowledge from Might 2025. Barcelona adopted intently behind at €20.40 (£17.70) with 18,113 vacationer houses. Against this, quieter areas like Zamora in Castile and León and Aragon’s Teruel, with simply 546 and 810 vacationer houses respectively, noticed month-to-month rents of €7.10 (£6.20) and €7.40 (£6.40) – a fraction of the associated fee in Spain’s main cities.
Actually, Teruel’s worth was virtually 50% decrease than that of its neighbour, Valencia, the place rental housing was €13.60 (£11.80), and there have been almost 14,500 extra vacationer houses.
Whereas the rise in STRs in Spain has contributed to increased rental costs for native residents, you will need to observe that different components, akin to inflation, the amount of vacant houses and an absence of recent development, additionally affect the housing market. In line with INE knowledge, STRs account for 1.4% of Spain’s whole housing provide, whereas empty houses account for 14%, which means vacant houses outnumber STRs by 10 to 1.
Spain’s warfare on STRs: new guidelines to reclaim houses for locals
In December 2024, the Spanish Authorities applied a sweeping reform of its STR legal guidelines, beneath Royal Decree 1312/2024, in an effort to regain management.
“We want fewer Airbnbs and extra housing,” stated Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez, who lent her assist to bans in areas the place the vacationer trade places the best strain on housing.
Totally efficient from July 1, 2025, the reform was designed to create a extra clear and managed vacation rental sector. At its centre is the brand new Número de Registro Único de Arrendamientos (NRUA) system. Each property supplied as an STR, even when only a room, should now be formally registered and issued a singular NRUA code. This code should be displayed in all types of promoting and advertising, together with listings on platforms akin to Airbnb. Any itemizing that doesn’t comply could also be thought of unlawful and topic to hefty fines starting from €600 (£521) to €60,000 (£52,132), or removing from platforms.
In September 2025, Spain’s Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, promised to take away 53,000 vacationer flats from STR platforms nationwide. These properties, recognized as irregular or unlawful, at the moment are slated for conversion into everlasting rental housing to deal with housing shortages.
Barcelona’s mayor, Jaume Collboni (left), introduced plans to do away with all STRs by the tip of the last decade (Picture: Getty)
On a neighborhood degree, a number of Spanish cities have taken robust stances to guard their residents’ housing. In June 2024, the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, introduced plans to do away with all STRs by the tip of the last decade. By November 2028, town will stop issuing new licences for properties and won’t renew present permits, which means that from 2029, no houses might be rented as vacationer lodging.
Airbnb urged Barcelona to rethink its strategy, and the dispute in the end reached courtroom. Nevertheless, in a landmark choice in March 2025, Spain’s Constitutional Court docket upheld Barcelona’s plan, dismissing claims that the ban violates non-public property rights. The Spanish Authorities then issued the platform a €64 million (£56 million) positive in December for promoting unlicensed residences.
The Specific contacted Airbnb for remark, and a spokesperson stated: “The foundation causes of housing and tourism challenges in Spain are an absence of recent houses being constructed and many years of hotel-driven concentrated mass tourism, which accounts for the overwhelming majority of holiday makers to Spain every year.
“Greater than 10 years of disproportionate blanket laws, like those in Barcelona, have failed to enhance housing considerations. In distinction, Airbnb helps unfold company and advantages past conventional vacationer hotspots.”
Airbnb argued its platform is an ‘antidote to overtourism’ (Picture: Getty)
Airbnb acknowledged that in Barcelona, over a decade after the total moratorium on new licenses for complete houses and a ban on non-public room leases was launched, STRs have been diminished by half, however rents have risen by virtually 60% whereas the common worth of a house has elevated by 8%, citing Barcelona Metropolis Corridor knowledge.
“Lodges drive mass tourism and are rather more concentrated in conventional vacationer spots, whereas Airbnb accounts for less than a small portion of the tourism load in Spain,” Airbnb added, earlier than describing its platform as “an antidote to overtourism”.
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Lastly, Airbnb stated it was working with native authorities and actively supporting compliance: “Solely in 2025 Airbnb has signed voluntary agreements with the Island Councils of Ibiza, Mallorca, Menorca, and Formentera, in addition to with the Authorities of the Canary Islands and the Area of Murcia. Since July 2025, Airbnb has been intently collaborating with the Ministry of Housing to implement the brand new nationwide registration system.”
The Specific additionally approached Reserving.com for remark.
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