Barcelona approves a property tax rise of up to 150% on tourist flats
The increase is graduated by how many licences an owner holds, from 50% for a single flat to 150% from the fourth. It would apply from 2027, a year before the city withdraws tourist letting licences altogether.
Barcelona has given preliminary approval to raising property tax on tourist apartments by up to 150%, scaled to how many licences an owner holds. The rise would apply from 2027, a year before the city withdraws tourist letting licences altogether.
The council, led by the socialist mayor Jaume Collboni, approved the measure in first reading. The tax in question is the IBI, the annual property tax levied on Spanish real estate, the counterpart of a US property tax bill. The increase is graduated by holding: +50% for an owner with a single tourist flat, +100% for two or three licences, and +150% from the fourth onwards — two and a half times the current bill. On a flat paying €1,000 today, that is €2,500.
Who it lands on
The design aims at the larger holders rather than the individual owner.
| Licences held | IBI increase | Flats affected |
|---|---|---|
| One | +50% | ≈ 3,400 — calculated |
| Two or three | +100% | 1,200 |
| Four or more | +150% | ≈ 6,000 |
| Total active licences | — | ≈ 10,600 |
On those figures, about 68% of Barcelona’s tourist flats sit in the two upper bands and face a doubling or more of the bill (calculated: 7,200 ÷ 10,600). The single-licence figure is ours, taken as the remainder. The count of flats is not the count of owners: one holder can carry many licences, which is the point of the scaling.
The vote, and what is still to come
The measure passed with the Catalan socialists, Barcelona en Comú and Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya in favour. Junts per Catalunya abstained; Partido Popular and Vox voted against. First approval opens a period for observations, after which the text returns to the council in December for final approval, with the intention of applying it from 2027.
Jordi Valls, deputy mayor for the economy, said the city would use every instrument available against the activity until the permits are cancelled. The stated purpose is to cut the financial incentive to let to visitors rather than residents.
What it does not settle
A higher tax lowers the return on a tourist flat, but it does not decide what the owner does next. With licences ending in 2028, owners face a shorter earning horizon and a higher annual cost at the same time; the pressure on margins depends on what each flat pays today and what it takes in. Whether those homes return to residential letting, are sold, or simply run on until the licences lapse is the part the measure cannot legislate.