barcelona tourism

Barcelona struggles to achieve balance between benefits of tourism and complaints about illegal apartments

September 27, 2016 05:05 PM | ACN / Marina Force

Barcelona’s battle against illegal apartment rentals has recently taken a new turn.The European Holiday Home Association (EHHA) filed last Thursday a formal complaint with the European Commission against the “restrictions” on the renting of apartments for tourists in Barcelona. The city launchedlast July an action plan against illegal tourist accommodations. Residents consider them to be the main cause for the presence of tourists in quiet neighbourhoods and the disruption of neighbours’ tranquillity. Up to 30 million people visit Barcelona each year. Although tourism represents a significant revenue stream, the increasing number of reported incidents of noise, public urination and nudity in some spots is too much to handle. Barcelona’s action plan aims at detecting illegal sublets as well as denouncing platforms such as Airbnb and HomeAway for offering them on their platforms. The City Council has threatened to fine the websites €600,000 each, despite Airbnb contributing €740 million to Barcelona´s revenue in 2015. 

Barcelona could introduce a tourist tax from 2017

September 21, 2016 07:43 PM | ACN

Visitors coming to Barcelona in 2017 may be levied with a tourist tax. This would be added to the fee Catalonia already applies to people staying in Catalan hotels, camping sites and tourist cottages. The Municipal Commission of Economy and Finance passed on Tuesday a proposal presented by liberal ‘Convergència i Unió’ (CiU) in which the political party asks the local government to consider the application of a tourist tax, fee or public levy. The aim is to balance the costs and benefits of receiving around 30 million visitors each year. The text approved also insists on the necessity of demanding from the Catalan Government the transfer of all the revenue collected from tourists visiting the city, and not just half of it.

More than 10 million international tourists visit Catalonia

August 30, 2016 10:51 AM | ACN

Catalonia continues to be the most attractive destination for international tourists travelling to Spain. Up to 25.3% of all foreign visitors stay in Catalonia, according to figures published on Tuesday, which also show a 4.7% increase in the number of tourists between January and July 2016. The majority of international tourists staying in Catalonia are French (23.5%) and British (10.6%). In August, most regions within Catalonia have been fully booked, with figures suggesting better results than in summer 2015.

Barcelona is almost excellent –just a bit too crowded, say tourists

August 22, 2016 12:42 PM | ACN

A new poll shows that tourists in the Catalan capital gave the city a score of 8.6 on a scale of 0 to 10. An almost excellent result, which is, however, overshadowed by concerns by those same visitors that the city attracts way too many people. In fact, 58% of those that took part in the poll consider Barcelona’s tourist spots overcrowded. On summer Sundays, up to 20,000 people arrive in Barcelona by cruise ship. The figure will peak on the 11th of September, when up to 28,100 people are expected to arrive by sea. The tourism poll was conducted in 2015 in different tourist areas, hotels and airports and ports of Barcelona. From those taking part, 47.5% were visiting the city for the first time, and 52.5% had been there before.

Tourists spend almost 2.5 billion euros in the first quarter, 6.7% more than in 2015

May 5, 2016 07:20 PM | ACN

Tourists spent 2.467 billion euros in Catalonia in the first quarter of 2016. This sum is equal to 6.7% more than the same period last year, according to the Tourist Expenditure Survey (Egatur) published by the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE). In March alone, the amount that foreigners spent in Catalonia was 922 million euros, a decrease of 5.6% compared with March of last year. On a country-wide scale, foreigners spent 12.255 billion euros in all of Spain in the first quarter of 2016, 7.4% more than last year. These figures indicate that Catalonia absorbed 20.1% of foreigners’ expenditure in Spain in the first three months of the year.

Tourism website Airbnb contributed 740 million euros to Barcelona´s economy

March 16, 2016 06:57 PM | ACN

In 2015, Barcelona saw 740 million euros from American home-sharing website Airbnb, through which over 800,000 guests connected with over 9,000 hosts. This number marks an increase in guests, in amount earned, and in overnight stays. This year also saw a shift in lodging location as the rented spaces are no longer primarily centred in the historic ‘Ciutat Vella’ neighbourhood. By the website´s data, Barcelona is now the fourth most important destination, preceded by Paris, London, and New York. CNA spoke to CEO of Airbnb in Spain and Portugal Arnaldo Muñoz, who explains the negotiations in progress between the company and the Catalan and Barcelona authorities.