Change is coming to hotels in Spain after mega anti-tourism protests in Tenerife and Majorca. Spain is the world’s second-most visited country after France and estimates point to a record of 95 million visitors this year – double Spain’s population.
Now, authorities are cracking down on holiday rentals due to locals’ fury over soaring property costs and busy city streets. They are also encouraging luxury hotels to expand in order to accommodate those no longer able to stay in holiday lets.
Earlier this year, Barcelona and Tenerife announced a ban and stricter rules on tourist apartments, aiming to reduce supply.
Although Barcelona will keep its ban on building new hotels downtown, existing establishments will be able to upgrade their classification.
Authorities will support a plan to open 5,000 new hotel beds in other areas while it shuts all of its 10,000 tourist apartments by 2028.
Mayor Jaume Collboni told Reuters: “We can do little about demand, but we can act on supply.”
To attract “quality tourism”, he wants to reduce overcrowding and prioritise culture and gastronomy-driven visitors, as well as international conferences.
Collboni said hotels guarantee quality and labour rights better than short lets, which have harmed local people’s access to housing.
Rents rose 68 percent and house prices 38 percent in the past decade.
In Tenerife, authorities plan to add 1,000 beds in new luxury hotels near an area in the island’s southeast that already has the largest concentration of five-star hotels in Europe.
“We want to compete not as a low-price destination, but as a quality destination,” said local tourism chief Lope Alfonso.