Barcelona council and hotels' guild clash on tax and tourist accommodation during debate

Barcelona's councilor for tourism, Jordi Valls, clashed with the president of the city's hotels' guild, Jordi Clos, during a debate on tourism held at Foment businesses lobby headquarters on Tuesday.

The hotels' guild is asking for the city council to keep some tourist apartments' licenses after 2028, following mayor Jaume Collboni's announcement that it would get rid of over 10,000 accommodations for visitors by then. 

Hotels consider that if all apartments are transformed into long-term rental opportunities, it will complicate organizing massive events in the city, such as trade shows or music festivals. This will also cause a problem of demand.

They claim it is a good idea to get rid of these apartments, which Clos defined as "cancer." For the hotels' guild, it would be acceptable to keep all of those licenses in the same building, as it does not directly impact neighbors.

But, Valls said that the proposal would not be accepted and that all tourist accommodation licenses would expire, allowing apartments to be offered as long-term rental opportunities. "There will not be any exception," he told Clos before adding that the measure is to tackle "the main city challenge, which is housing."

Aside from accommodation, Clos also criticized the tourist tax as it is reaching its "limits," which Valls contradicted and said that they will propose increasing it once it is allowed by the Catalan parliament.

Once the chamber passes its legislation, Barcelona authorities can charge up to €14 per night and person. At the moment, the city council has already increased its local taxes to €8 per night and person, which also does not include the Catalan tourist tax.

"We are worried that we are in a very weak position to host important events," Jordi Clos said, as the increase in taxes reduces "competitiveness" against other cities to host trade fairs, such as the MWC, the world's largest mobile tech fair.