Major Cities in Spain Are Taking Measures to Ban Short-Term Rentals Entirely

Seville is following the latter approach to limit the number of tourists. On August 14, Seville’s mayor announced a plan to review short term rentals in the city and will cut the water supply to any non-regulated properties, according to Reuters. So far, 715 non-compliant apartments have been found. Estimates for the total number of illegal short-term rentals range between 5,000 and 7,000, while between 8,000 and 9,000 are compliant.

For travelers, fewer options on homeshare platforms will likely lead to prices raising at the legally operating places as well as hotels. In New York City, tight restrictions on Airbnbs led to an unregulated black market of short-term rentals. Yet for residents, banning short-term rentals may help lower housing prices by raising the supply of homes as fewer properties become dedicated to servicing the tourism market.

Spain is far from alone in taking measures to limit overtourism. An increasing number of places are instituting or raising tourist taxes. Amsterdam is a leader in fighting overtourism with a 10-page report called “Vision on Tourism in Amsterdam in 2035” that lays out how the city can make massive cuts to tourism and keep the city livable for permanent residents. One of the main methods listed is to reduce the supply of home rentals.

As every part of the world continues to get easier to reach, it’s important to remember that there’s a limit to how many people one place can host. Some areas are better left rarely visited in the first place. For cities like Seville, Barcelona, and others limiting the number of short-term rentals, tourism will continue to play a major role in the economy. It might just look a little different.