It’s 1am and the headlights of my bumblebee-patterned taxi illuminate the quiet, closed shops of Barcelona.
My eyes scour shutters for anti-tourism graffiti, but as far as my eyes can see, they are only full of the expected Catalan and Spanish words. In the dark of night, on my journey to my hotel from El Prat Airport, I am yet to see a single sign that tourists aren’t welcome here. I think, maybe I’ll have better luck during a morning stroll.
Following a restful night, I head to the streets and back alleys of the Eixample district, one of Barcelona’s areas recently hit by anti-tourism messages. Armed with the destinations pinned on my Google Maps, I hunt for locations that have been tagged with graffiti demanding that “tourists go home” in recent months, as protesters squirted holidaymakers with water at nearby restaurants.
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It alludes me. On the surface, at least, everything is peaceful in this beautiful city. However, scratch a little deeper, and it’s clear not all is well.
Every year 32 million people visit Barcelona. That is almost 20 times more than the 1.7 million people who actually live here. In 2024, the city’s mayor Jaume Collboni announced that rents across the city had gone up by 68 per cent in the last 10 years. Housing prices had also increased by 38 per cent.
For those wanting to rent a property in Barcelona in 2024, this meant spending €1200 (£1,011) a month on average compared to around €900 (£758.37) in 2021. Across the year, these sky-high rents and utility bills are eating up around 40 per cent of each tenant’s annual income, compared to Europe’s average of 27 per cent.
A spokesperson from Assemblea de Barris pel Decreixement Turístic (ABDT), a grassroots movement working on — and against — the touristificaction process in Barcelona, told the Mirror how deeply baked in the issue of housing has become.
“The problem about housing is that through the years, tourism accommodation replaced so many houses with hotels and Airbnbs, which made [people move] out from their homes. Additionally, this higher profit [business] made the housing prices rise so much, so people kept on being fired out from their homes and had to move to other neighbourhoods or cities,” they explained.
“[And] the problem [in] Barcelona is [also] about the concentration of tourism activity and about how the city is sold as a product to be consumed, so the individual behaviours won’t change a thing. All we can tell them, calmly and with nothing against them, is ‘Better don’t come; it hurts the city and its people, and it’s not even the worth for you’.”
So, what’s being done?
Evidently, people have had enough in recent years, and now politicians are being forced to act. On January 1, 2025, a new Spanish law came into effect introducing an index that limits the rental price increases for housing contracts signed after May 26, 2023. The whole of Barcelona met the Spain’s housing law parameters to cap rents in ‘stressed’ areas, where they are deemed unaffordable relative to top income.
However, between the first quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024 (when the law was announced), average rental prices in Barcelona rose by 9.8 per cent, according to data from the Catalan Land Institute, Incasol.
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Not long after that the city announced one of its biggest moves yet – a total ban on short-term rentals, including Airbnb properties, from the end of 2028. But still, there is work to be done, according to the ABDT spokesperson, who told the Mirror: “Old Airbnb flats need regulations to make sure they will come back to resident housing at affordable prices, and there’s nothing announced about this [currently].”
Undeniably, the Catalonian capital is brimming with culture, intriguing architecture, and a buzzing community. But when visiting, the local community is hard to spot. Instead, it appears as a city that is heavily tourist-focused, with street sellers on nearly every corner flogging Sagrada Familia magnets and bird-shaped whistles.
Nearby shops are covered with signs announcing that they are open 24 hours, supposedly to cater for late-night arrivals and wanderers like myself. Road signs, not only in Catalan and Spanish, but often in English, suggest that tourists are woven into the fabric of this sprawling city.
But the stats aren’t the only evidence of a housing issue in the city. In recent weeks, months and over the past year, many streets across Barcelona have been dominated by hundreds of people protesting. One particular flare-up point has been the Casa Orsola, one of the city’s most historic buildings which developers now want to empty of its residents.
Discontent from residents started bubbling up in the building in 2020 when it was purchased by the investment fund Lioness Inversiones for €5.4 million (£4.55 million). They planned to turn it into short-term rentals, meaning residents would be evicted. Many of them had lived there for decades. Crowds of people gathered outside the building day after day, shouting, chanting and waving banners, in the hope that the message that the sale wasn’t wanted would finally be heard.
Locals branded the move “shameful,” and many stayed in the building overnight before evictions were due to take place in the hope of a last-minute reprieve. I arrived at the building to find the balconies dressed with large banners stating, “Jo [heart] vines Orsola,” which translates to “I love you, Orsola.”
Another reads “Ceadasa Orsola resisteix” (Casa Orsola resists) and another makes clear the fight has now been going on for three years. A new banner recently appeared which reads: “Agenda 2030. Tendremos nada ni casa senomos infelices”, translating to “Agenda 2030. We will have nothing and no house, we will be unhappy.”
Upon closer inspection, some of the sign has been drawn over, changing the meaning of the phrase to: “2030 we will have a house, we will be happy.” The upgrade to the banner is likely referencing a recent change in ownership of the building. In February, it was announced that the residents would stay in their homes as Barcelona City Council and mayor, Jaume Collboni, teamed up with the Catalan non-profit organisation Hàbitat3 to buy the building and convert it into social and affordable housing for €9.2 million (£7.75 million).
Whilst there is a long road ahead for Casa Orsola and it is one of many examples in the city where residents are facing eviction, it is a step in the right direction for locals. It is not the only scheme currently at work in the city to create a fairer housing system.
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One of them is Sostre Civic — a cooperative housing model, where community is at the core and almost everything is shared, from camping equipment to maintenance tasks. In return, the rent for tenants is considerably reduced. Jose Téllez, from Sostre Civic, told the Mirror that their work involves acquiring land, securing finance and then designing and constructing housing.
“Given Barcelona’s severe housing crisis — driven by skyrocketing rents, speculative investment, and tourism pressure — this model offers a way to provide stable, affordable housing outside the traditional market. While still emerging, it is gaining traction as a sustainable solution for the city,” Jose said..
The housing is an alternative to both buying or renting a property and Sostre Civic has many project across Catalonia, including in Barcelona. Ester, who is a resident at one of Sostre Civic’s projects, Cirerers, explained to me that to live in one of the cooperatives, you must first become a member, which costs around €100 (£84.26) per year. Housing opportunities are then allocated based on the seniority of the membership.
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Home to 32 families, Cirerers is located just outside central Barcelona and was built in 2022. Ester revealed: “One of the reasons why I wanted to join such a project is that it is very difficult to get an affordable apartment in Barcelona. Not only because of the rent prices, but also because it can be quite hostile. I wanted to settle down in a place where I knew who I lived with and be part of a community.
“What we do in our project, all the decisions that we make, we make together during assemblies that we have once a month. The idea is that we also contribute to the community, so we are organised in several working groups such as maintenance, architecture, support and care and so on. The idea is that we build a life together where we support each other and live with the values of the social and solidarity economy.”
When wandering around the building, it has a warm and welcoming feeling. Everyone here cares about each other and socialises, but they are also considerate of each other’s personal space. Together the residents will often host dinners or work socially together, offering a heightened feeling of community in a city desperately trying to find ways to make sure its residents have a home.
Whilst my visit to Barcelona wasn’t during peak tourist season and the issues of short-term rentals weren’t immediately apparent to me, it’s clear that tourism is now a year-round industry in the city. The influx of visitors has undeniably strained housing availability for locals, all whilst accommodation options have expanded for tourists. The tension in the city may be misdirected at tourists, when in reality, it is the control of developers over Barcelona’s housing market that lies at the root of the problem.
By exploring alternative housing models, like cooperative housing, Barcelona may find a way to protect both its residents and its vibrant tourism industry, ensuring that the city remains a home for everyone. However, the destination has a long way to go yet, and if something isn’t done that really gets to grip with the housing crisis, discontent will grow and protests will become more frequent.