Travelnest news
Short-term rental regulations in Barcelona
28 Jun 2022
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By Sophie Eminson
Barcelona is a city with an enormous tourism sector. With over 7 million visitors per year, it’s no wonder that holiday rentals are in such high demand. As a result, there are short-term rental restrictions in Barcelona in place, particularly for Airbnb hosts. If you are a vacation rental owner in Barcelona, or the wider region of Catalonia, you should understand these rules before renting out your property. We’ve detailed the basic information about short-term rental regulations in Spain and Barcelona specifically, so that you can ensure that your short-term rental adheres to the law.
Is Airbnb legal in Barcelona?
It is legal to advertise an Airbnb in Barcelona. However, in August 2021, short-term rental regulations in Barcelona were introduced in order to limit the amount of short-term room rentals. The Barcelona Airbnb ban prevents hosts from renting out a room only for less than 31 days. If you wish to rent accommodation for more than 31 days, whether it’s a whole property or just a room, you are able to do so but this will not be considered as tourist accommodation. Any rental with a time period of over 31 days is therefore long-term. You can read a full Q&A with our partner channel Airbnb about renting a property in Catalonia here.
In order to rent out a short-term holiday let in many areas of Spain you must be a licensed tourist accommodation provider. You must also have proof of this licence, either an official certificate (issued by the Generalitat de Catalunya if your property is in Barcelona) or a copy of your current licence on display in an easily visible place on the premises for inspection by inspectors. If you don’t have this proof or evidence that you are properly licensed and registered with the local authority you can face fines. You can find out more about tourist licence requirements and how to obtain a licence number in Spain in our help article.
If you’re looking for a Barcelona Airbnb alternative for your holiday let, you can rent your property on various other channels such as Booking.com, Expedia and VRBO. With TravelNest, you can advertise a holiday home for free across 30 different channels to increase your visibility as well as bookings. It is not possible to rent a room only with TravelNest, but you can sign up here if you are a fully self-contained property owner.
