Barcelona Cracks Down On Illegal Tourist Accommodation

19 January 2016 – El Economista

The Town Hall of Barcelona has ordered the cessation of activity in 388 tourist apartments, has sealed off another 16 for not adhering to the order to cease their activity and has confirmed that another 17 are in the sealing period.

At a press conference on Monday, the Deputy Mayoress for Urban Planning, Janet Sanz, explained that 482 disciplinary proceedings have been opened against the owners of apartments that have been operating illegally and the revocation of 400 licences has been initiated in cases where the licence holder has been identified to not be the owner of the property.

Alerted by complaints

2,108 disciplinary procedures have been filed against the owners of tourist apartments and the Call Reception Centre set up by the Town Hall has handled more than 3,000 complaints about around 2,400 lodgings, which have allowed the City Police to begin the inspection of 1,816 unlicensed apartments.

The inspections have also allowed 226 disciplinary files to be opened against the owners of tourist apartments that do have licences, but which have not dealt with or resolved an incident when required to do so.

In total, the authorities have identified 1,080 flats in breach of the legislation, but have only fined 482 because they are waiting for a second round of inspections to be carried out to confirm that illegal tourist activity is being undertaken in the properties.

The Deputy Mayoress has also highlighted that the vast majority of the illegal apartments identified are located in the district of Ciutat Vella, followed by Eixample.

These actions to alleviate problems for tourists are included in the report “Municipal actions to counter the illegal supply of tourist accommodation 2015”, which will be presented to the Committee for Ecology, Urban Planning and Mobility on Wednesday.

Sanz explained that she would like to have more inspectors to detect this kind of activity, but added that the Town Hall has a very “limited” recruitment strategy, restricted by the Law of Budgetary Stability.

Reinforcement in la Barceloneta

She also said that the neighbourhood of la Barceloneta, which is one of the most affected areas, has been visited in a “proactive” way to detect illegal tourist apartments…8,553 visits have been made in total in recent months.

In addition, the neighbourhood has had its own office since November to facilitate complaints from local residents. Furthermore, 33 identification plaques have been installed in apartments that do have licences – there are 72 in total – showing details of the corresponding licence and telephone number.

The objective of the initiative is to identify those apartments that are operating legally and those that are not.

Original story: El Economista

Translation: Carmel Drake

Barcelona City Hall Suspends Tourist Licences For 1 Year

3 July 2015 – Cinco Días

The mayoress of Barcelona, Ada Colau, has fulfilled one of the promises she made during the election campaign for the municipal elections with the launch of a one-year moratorium for the granting of tourist licences in the city. “Tourism is one of the city’s main assets and we have to take care of it and make it sustainable”, she said.

Colau’s announcement had been expected by the market, since it had been one of her main promises during the election campaign, but it did not take shape until yesterday. Barcelona’s City Council, governed by Barcelona en Comú, has taken the decision to freeze licences for at least one year. The town council’s aim is to submit a Special Plan for the Regulation of Tourist Accommodation during the first quarter of next year, although it does not rule out extending that period by another year.

Some of the most iconic hotel projects being carried out in Barcelona include the conversions of Torre Agbar, the Deutsche Bank tower and the Henkel building. But, according to Janet Sanz, deputy mayoress of ecology, urban development and mobility, the actual list is longer and includes around thirty properties. “We are not saying that none of these projects will go ahead, simply that we are beginning a process of reflection on our tourism model”.

This moratorium, which comes in addition to the one that already exists in the neighbourhood of Ciutat Vella, is intended to allow time for an in-depth analysis of the stock of tourist accommodation in the city, so that the existing supply and the economic and social impact of tourism can be evaluated and diagnosed. The freeze will affect all establishments, from luxury hotels to hostels, so that a “calm debate” can be held about the situation in the city. Plans are afoot at the Deutsche Bank tower, which KKH purchased  last year, to build a five star Four Seasons hotel, costing €150 million, and the plan is to open a Grand Hyatt hotel in the Torre Agbar, which Emin Capital acquired in 2013. Others, such as the property being renovated by the construction company owned by Josep Lluís Núñez, the former President of FC Barcelona, will be excused from the moratorium.

In terms of Spanish hotel chains, the moratorium may affect Barceló, which is planning to open two new establishments in the city: one on Avenida Diagonal, 414 with views of the Casa de les Punxes, and the other, the conversion of the former headquarters of Nubiola Pigmentos, on the corner of Pau Claris and Gran Vía, which is still in its early phases. Nearby, one of Melia’s ME hotels, with 173 rooms, on the corner of Calle Casp and Paseo de Gracia may be affected. (…). Iberostar, Room Mate and Praktik Hotels could also be affected. (…).

The market regards the moratorium as a sign of insecurity for the entry of new investors. “The decision creates legal and administrative insecurity and leaves investors interested in entering the city on stand by”, says Inmaculada Ranero, CEO of Christie + Co for Spain and Portugal. (…).

Original story: Cinco Días

Translation: Carmel Drake

Dubai Investor To Open 3* Hotel In Centre Of Barcelona

16 June 2015 – Expansión

The businessman from Dubai has dodged the Ciutat Vella’s hotel moratorium by purchasing his licence from an establishment that has closed.

Since 2009, the historic centre of Barcelona, known as Ciutat Vella, has been subject to a hotel moratorium, which limits the construction of properties of this kind.

However, the Arab investor Haytham Alhaj Ali will open a three star hotel at number 8, on la Rambla del Raval, in the centre of Ciutat Vella.

He has engaged S3 Arquitectura to design the hotel project and he has signed an agreement with Acta Hotels to manage the future property, which could open in May next year.

This is Mr Alhaj Ali’s first project in Spain; he has invested in Barcelona through an equity company. The consideration paid for the purchase of the land and hotel licence is unknown but the cost of the construction work is expected to amount to around €3 million.

The hotel, with 27 rooms, stands on a plot of land in la Ramba del Raval where a former “squatters” drop-in centre, known as the ‘House of the Rebel People’, was located.

Original story: Expansión (by Marisa Anglés)

Translation: Carmel Drake