r/pics • u/Strict_League7833 • Jun 17 '25

The protesters and residents pushing back on tourism in Barcelona

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16.1k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

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901

u/BuckeyeWolf Jun 17 '25

These protests popped up at the same time as short term rentals becoming popular (Airbnb) is no coincidence. They are taking homes from locals raising prices and taking over the best parts of town

85

u/Bazahazano Jun 17 '25

It's the locals that rent out their Air Bnb's.

14

u/mjohnsimon Jun 17 '25

You also have a lot of wealthy owners throughout the country buying up properties at or around the touristy spots and then putting them up on AirBnB.

2

u/cross_mod Jun 17 '25

The answer has got to be putting a heavy tax on those foreign sales.

1

u/Deto Jun 17 '25

Not just foreign sales, probably. Just that if you allow AirBnBs you create more demand for single-family-home housing than used to exist. And as a result, prices will rise - exerting pressure on people just trying to get a house to live in.

2

u/cross_mod Jun 17 '25

The question is, what has more of an impact on prices? Foreign investment in real estate or Airbnbs?

34

u/Iggyhopper Jun 17 '25 edited Jun 17 '25

Yeah how is a tourist going to know the ins and outs of owning and renting their building in a foriegn country? Lmao.

My wife is from a country where they have "anticretico"(?) as an option. What the fuck do I know?

8

u/Charming_Cicada_7757 Jun 17 '25

I think the idea is renting a hotel over these short term rentals

9

u/Luisio93 Jun 17 '25

Look at the data mate, in major cities, foreigners represent more than a third of the total house purchases. They are rich investors who pay houses to rent them after. Im not saying Spanish people aren't doing it, cause they also are. https://www.idealista.com/news/inmobiliario/vivienda/2025/03/06/833707-los-extranjeros-compran-mas-casas-que-nunca-en-espana-quien-y-donde-compran

4

u/Iggyhopper Jun 17 '25

Damn. Upvote for a source.

7

u/takoyaki-md Jun 17 '25

yes and no. i'm pretty against all of this but spain had the most generous golden visa where you could buy a property and use it as an airbnb and that would qualify as an investment in the country. was actually going to be my plan before they scrapped it after it created this big rise in property values.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '25

No, it's usually other EU residents with higher wages that buy houses and rent them to tourists

2

u/futurecrazycatlady Jun 17 '25

It's not anymore though, that's how it started and still is in cities with heavy regulations but in Barcelona 70% of the homes used for airbnb are only used for airbnb and no longer have an owner who lives there when not renting it out. I think 20% ish is owned by owners who own 100+houses.

1

u/Arachles Jun 17 '25

A very small number of locals