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Barcelona, Housing Rent Bubble in a Tourist City. Social Responses and Local Policies

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  • Asunción Blanco-Romero

    (Departament de Geografia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus de Bellaterra, Edifici B, Carrer de la Fortuna, s/n, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain)

  • Macià Blázquez-Salom

    (Departament de Geografia, Universitat de les Illes Balears, Campus de la UIB, Edifici Beatriu de Pinós, Ctra. De Valldemossa, 07122 Palma, Spain)

  • Gemma Cànoves

    (Departament de Geografia, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Campus de Bellaterra, Edifici B, Carrer de la Fortuna, s/n, 08193 Bellaterra, Spain)

Abstract

Ten years after the housing bubble burst, Barcelona has experienced an increase in rental prices. This increase in prices is due to a combination of factors such as household debt, urban entrepreneurialism and the marketing of the city, evictions, investment by speculative capital, changes in tenancy and an increase in rental housing for tourists. Overcrowding from tourists is gaining ground as a concern in multifunctional cities. Through an analysis of statistics and in-depth interviews with qualified agents, it is possible to observe how social struggles and unsustainability have outraged citizens and pitted them against overcrowding from tourism and the commodification of the city. The local administration of Barcelona has tried to respond to the situation by initiating a process of regulation through urban and tourism planning. Our analysis shows that these actions are of great importance but are not enough to alleviate some of the drawbacks, such as the shortage of rental housing and an excess of hotel beds.

Suggested Citation

  • Asunción Blanco-Romero & Macià Blázquez-Salom & Gemma Cànoves, 2018. "Barcelona, Housing Rent Bubble in a Tourist City. Social Responses and Local Policies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-18, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:6:p:2043-:d:152859
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Michał Żemła, 2020. "Reasons and Consequences of Overtourism in Contemporary Cities—Knowledge Gaps and Future Research," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-20, February.
    2. Francesc Romagosa & Maria Abril-Sellarés & Kathleen Scherf, 2022. "Visitors and Residents in El Raval Neighborhood of Barcelona. New Opportunities for Creative Tourism?," Review of European Studies, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 13(4), pages 1-7, March.
    3. Xavier Perafita & Marc Saez, 2023. "Housing Supply and How It Is Related to Social Inequalities—Air Pollution, Green Spaces, Crime Levels, and Poor Areas—In Catalonia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(8), pages 1-24, April.
    4. Chaang-Iuan Ho & Tzong-Shyuan Chen & Chin-Pei Li, 2023. "Airbnb’s Negative Externalities from the Consumer’s Perspective: How the Effects Influence the Booking Intention of Potential Guests," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-28, May.
    5. Martín-Barroso, David & Núñez-Serrano, Juan A. & Turrión, Jaime & Velázquez, Francisco J., 2022. "Are workers' commutes sensitive to changes in the labour market situation?," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    6. Dalia Perkumienė & Rasa Pranskūnienė, 2019. "Overtourism: Between the Right to Travel and Residents’ Rights," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-17, April.
    7. Rodrigo Hidalgo & María Sarella Robles & Voltaire Alvarado, 2022. "Neoliberal Lakeside Residentialism: Real Estate Development and the Sustainable Utopia in Environmentally Fragile Areas," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-20, August.
    8. Chia Liu & Albert Esteve, 2020. "Living arrangements across households in Europe," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2020-002, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    9. Christian Eckert & Harald Pechlaner, 2019. "Alternative Product Development as Strategy Towards Sustainability in Tourism: The Case of Lanzarote," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-18, June.
    10. Bruno S Frey & Andre Briviba, 2021. "Revived Originals – A proposal to deal with cultural overtourism," Tourism Economics, , vol. 27(6), pages 1221-1236, September.
    11. Carlo Aall & Ko Koens, 2019. "The Discourse on Sustainable Urban Tourism: The Need for Discussing More Than Overtourism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-12, August.
    12. Agustin Cocola-Gant & Antonio Lopez-Gay, 2020. "Transnational gentrification, tourism and the formation of ‘foreign only’ enclaves in Barcelona," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 57(15), pages 3025-3043, November.
    13. Francisco José Chamizo-Nieto & Nuria Nebot-Gómez de Salazar & Carlos Rosa-Jiménez & Sergio Reyes-Corredera, 2023. "Touristification and Conflicts of Interest in Cruise Destinations: The Case of Main Cultural Tourism Cities on the Spanish Mediterranean Coast," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-26, April.
    14. Piotr Zmyślony & Joanna Kowalczyk-Anioł & Monika Dembińska, 2020. "Deconstructing the Overtourism-Related Social Conflicts," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-26, February.
    15. Manuel de la Calle-Vaquero & María García-Hernández & Sofía Mendoza de Miguel, 2020. "Urban Planning Regulations for Tourism in the Context of Overtourism. Applications in Historic Centres," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-22, December.
    16. Marco Romagnoli, 2021. "The Other’s Wave: Ethnographic Insights on Three “Tsunamis of Tourism” in Barcelona," Journal of Tourismology, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 7(1), pages 101-121, June.
    17. Francesca Leccis, 2023. "Urban Regeneration and Touristification in the Sardinian Capital City of Cagliari, Italy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-29, February.
    18. Martí Cors-Iglesias & María Belén Gómez-Martín & Xosé Antón Armesto-López, 2020. "Peer-to-Peer Accommodation in Rural Areas of Catalonia: Defining Typologies of Rural Municipalities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-15, July.
    19. Moaaz Kabil & Mohamed Abouelseoud & Faisal Alsubaie & Heba Mostafa Hassan & Imre Varga & Katalin Csobán & Lóránt Dénes Dávid, 2022. "Evolutionary Relationship between Tourism and Real Estate: Evidence and Research Trends," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-19, August.
    20. Pere Mercadé-Melé & Fernando Almeida-García & Aitor Martinez-Garcia & Miquel Angel Coll-Ramis, 2023. "Hotel Rooftops as a Space for Consumption in Historic Centres: The Case Study of Palma (Spain)," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-12, March.
    21. Ko Koens & Albert Postma & Bernadett Papp, 2018. "Is Overtourism Overused? Understanding the Impact of Tourism in a City Context," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-15, November.
    22. Carmen Mínguez & María José Piñeira & Alfonso Fernández-Tabales, 2019. "Social Vulnerability and Touristification of Historic Centers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-24, August.
    23. María José Piñeira Mantiñán & Francisco R. Durán Villa & Ramón López Rodríguez, 2020. "Citizen Action as a Driving Force of Change. The Meninas of Canido, Art in the Street as an Urban Dynamizer," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-22, January.
    24. Nora Müller & Ivan Murray & Macià Blázquez-Salom, 2021. "Short-term rentals and the rentier growth coalition in Pollença (Majorca)," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(7), pages 1609-1629, October.

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