Some cities have gone further than others, and some initiatives have ended up in court. But these tourist spots offer a glimpse of how the crackdown on short-term rentals is playing out across the continent.
Barcelona
Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni in June announced that Spain’s second-largest city would prohibit tourist-oriented short-term rentals by the end of 2028.
“We are confronting what we believe is Barcelona’s largest problem,” Collboni said. “There will be no more [tourist] flats in Barcelona: We will recover the 10,101 that currently exist and make them available to those who wish to live here.”
Barcelona tourism hotspot Sagrada Familia basilica. | Pau Barrena/AFP via Getty Images
The city’s proposal follows a ban on short-term rentals in apartment buildings in Palma de Mallorca. But legal experts have pointed out Barcelona’s initiative is likely to lead to a drawn-out court battle — as was the case in …
Berlin
At one point, the German capital had some of the world’s most restrictive rules around short-term rentals. In 2016, the city government passed a law known as Zweckentfremdungsverbot (literally, the prohibition of improper use), barring landlords from renting out entire properties under penalty of hefty fines.
Tourists at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate. | Friedemann Vogel/EFE via EPA
But officials loosened the restrictions, which faced court challenges, in 2018. Now landlords can rent out their whole properties but must receive a permit to do so and can rent out second homes for up to only 90 days a year.