City council enforces ban on unlicensed tourist lets
Barcelona City Council has sealed ten illegal tourist apartments in a single building in the city centre on Friday 6th November 2026, marking a significant enforcement action in its ongoing campaign against unlicensed short-term rentals. The operation took place in a central downtown location, where inspectors found the flats operating without authorisation required under regional and municipal regulations. Each sealed unit now displays a notice in Catalan, Spanish, and English stating: "The Barcelona City Council has sealed this tourist accommodation as it does not have authorization, therefore, its use as such is prohibited by express order of the competent authority." The notice also urges guests who have booked stays or observe tourist activity to report it via the council’s official reporting portal at www.barcelona.cat/infobarcelona.
End of tourist rental licences by 2028
Mayor Jaume Collboni confirmed in June 2024 that the city will not renew any of the 10,101 existing tourist rental licences, all of which will expire in November 2028. This deadline follows the five-year transitional period established by a decree-law from the Generalitat de Catalunya, which introduced the Special Urban Plan for Tourist Accommodation (PEUAT) to regulate the sector and limit housing displacement. The council aims to recover nearly 10,000 homes for long-term residential use, addressing concerns over housing shortages and rising rents linked to unregulated tourist accommodation.
The city is reclaiming housing for residents. Every illegal tourist flat sealed is a home that can return to local use.
Zero tolerance for illegal activity
Until the 2028 deadline, enforcement continues through three main channels: digital platform monitoring, resident complaints, and on-site inspections. Since 2016, the council has issued approximately 9,700 orders to cease illegal activity. Tensions persist with platforms such as Airbnb, which at one point stopped removing listings flagged by municipal inspectors. According to reports cited by elDiario.es, around 6,200 unauthorised tourist listings were identified in Barcelona on the platform. A previous inspection in Horta-Guinardó in May 2026 revealed 31 illegal tourist lets in a single building originally licensed for 19, with some units created through unauthorised structural modifications. That case led to seven serious infringement proceedings, each carrying potential fines between €60,000 and €600,000.
We are acting on all fronts, online, in communities, and on the ground, to ensure compliance.
The Housing Discipline Anti-Harassment Unit, part of the city’s Urban Planning Services, has been central to these efforts, conducting inspections and enforcing compliance under Article 66 and 68 of Decree 159/2012 on tourist accommodation.
Industry pushback and community support
The Barcelona Tourist Apartment Association (Apartur) has criticised the city’s non-renewal policy, calling it counterproductive and arguing that licensed operators contribute responsibly to the tourism economy. In response, the council has increased support for residential communities, multiplying by five the funding available to building owners’ associations that prohibit tourist lets in their bylaws.
Sources: CatalunyaPress, Ajuntament de Barcelona, catalunyapress.cat.
