Barcelona’s newly elected leftist mayor has imposed a freeze on licensing new tourist accommodation in an effort to control the growth of an industry that is causing social disruption even as it appears to cushion the effect of Europe’s economic crisis.
Mayor Ada Colau said the freeze, which she expects to last a year but could be extended, will halt 30 projects that were in the process of being licensed, including some significant hotel investments.
Barcelona needs to put a brake on development and ‘begin a process of participatory reflection instead of going around putting out fires’, she said, adding: "It was a priority to impose order. Up to now, tourist policy has been handled with patches."
Colau was immediately under fire from opposition political parties for announcing the move when Barcelona is reeling from an unemployment rate of about 20%. The mayor is ‘paralyzing the city and one of the most important economic activities in Barcelona, putting investments and jobs at risk’, said Javier Mulleras, a councilman for the conservative Popular Party.
Last year, Barcelona received roughly 7.5 million international visitors, more than four times the city’s population. The number of tourist rooms available in Barcelona has roughly doubled to some 70,000 over the past 12 years.
Plus a growing number of unlicensed rooms, including many private apartments rented out by their owners through sharing websites such as AirBNB
