Barcelona offers up to €2,500 to residents who block new tourist flats

The City Council launches unprecedented aid for communities wishing to shield their buildings from tourist flats. The procedure will be subsidised. The measure seeks to protect coexistence and residential use. Applications open from 27 February.

Neighbourhood communities in Barcelona will be able to receive up to €2,500 if they decide to legally prevent the arrival of new tourist flats in their buildings. This Friday, the City Council activates a subsidy scheme covering the costs of amending internal statutes, a measure that could change the day-to-day life of many apartment blocks in the city.

The council is allocating €100,000 to this initiative, born from an agreement with ERC, so that residents have real tools against the proliferation of tourist accommodation. The aim is clear: to make it easier for neighbours to shield their properties and prevent tourist activity from altering coexistence.

The aid will cover half the costs of drafting new statutes, up to a maximum of €2,500. If the community already has rules and only needs to adapt them to include the ban, the subsidy will be up to 1,500 euros. Only properties that approve the changes at an owners’ meeting from 1 March 2025 onwards will be eligible for this aid.

To access the subsidy, neighbours must include in their statutes the express prohibition of tourist flats and other economic activities that may disturb the peace of the building. In addition, the text must comply with the official model agreed by the City Council and the property chambers. A key requirement will be to register the amendment in the Property Register, which ensures that the ban has effect against future buyers. The community must also be up to date with Social Security and the Tax Authority.

The plan reserves an additional €36,000 for property managers and legal advisers who successfully handle these procedures. Thus, it is not only the neighbours who benefit: the professionals accompanying the process will also receive financial support.

The strategy has the support of key bodies such as the Colegio de Administradores de Finques de Barcelona-Lleida and the Cámara de la Propiedad Urbana, which will promote information campaigns to encourage owners to protect the residential use of their homes from tourist pressure.

The phenomenon of tourist flats has transformed life in many Barcelona neighbourhoods over the last decade. Coexistence between residents and visitors has generated tensions, especially in central and coastal areas. Neighbourhood communities, traditionally focused on internal management, have become key actors in defending the residential fabric. This new aid scheme reinforces their role and opens the door to greater neighbour involvement in the city’s urban future.

Updated · 6 March 2026 16:59 Since the call opened on 27 February, the City Council has already begun receiving enquiries from interested communities and expects an avalanche of applications in the neighbourhoods most affected by tourist flats, such as the Gòtic, Barceloneta or Eixample. The measure adds to the municipal roadmap, which includes mass inspections, fines and the gradual elimination of tourist licences until 2028, and reinforces the role of communities as the first filter to protect residential use in Barcelona

Barcelona offers up to €2,500 to neighbours who block new tourist flats