Barcelona: 63% of short-term rental properties undeclared

In light of the Barcelona mayor’s recent announcement of a ban on short-term rentals in the city from November 2028, Spanish data analytics company Mabrian has conducted its own research into what is ultimately happening in the market for Airbnb accommodation in Barcelona. The conclusions of the survey are extremely interesting: First finding: Mayor Jaume Collboni reported that none of the 10,101 short-term rental permits in Barcelona will be renewed. Mabrian’s research identified 15,800 short-term rental properties, equivalent to almost 56,700 rental beds. That is, in Barcelona there are 63% more short term properties than the number of properties licensed by the municipality. This means that the total capacity of short-term rentals in Barcelona represents 67.6% of the total hotel capacity in the city (84,000 hotel beds at the end of 2023, according to the Observatori de Turismo de Barcelona). Second finding: the Mabrian data, based on the data available through Airbnb for Barcelona, shows that around 27% of owners are only promoting one short-term rental unit. The remaining 73% report more than one accommodation. Interestingly, among this 73% of owners listing more than one property, 57% rent more than 10 properties. Third finding: almost 61% of short term rental properties in Barcelona are listed as “whole house”, while 33% are private rooms and 4% are one-room apartments. Analysis by neighbourhood shows that up to 68% of all short term rentals are concentrated in the city centre (Eixample, Ciutat Vella and Santa-Montjuic). A fourth finding that needs to be taken into account in policy making is the nationalities that choose short term rentals in Barcelona. So the main customers in these accommodations are Americans, French, Australians and British. The measures announced send the following message to them: their experience and spending in the city will be different when the measures are implemented. This is of particular interest to families and travellers with longer stays, who want larger spaces in the accommodation they stay in, which must be economical. According to Mabrian data for June 2024, on average, the price per guest to spend a night in a holiday accommodation is €56, while a night in a 3-star hotel is €167 and €175 in a 4-star hotel. The question, therefore, is: Will short term rental customers choose Barcelona when it only has hotel accommodation at three times the price?