Barceloneta, historically the fishing district of Barcelona, has seen its popular identity diluted for years between tourists, wealthy foreigners and apartments at impossible prices for its young people. With the start of the America’s Cup sailing, which has one of its epicentres in this district and its promenade, many are wary of a major sporting event that adds pressure to their rents.
Vacation rentals, which have skyrocketed throughout the city in recent months to circumvent rental regulations, have reached unprecedented levels in the Barceloneta neighborhood. Today, as the world’s largest sailing competition kicks off, up to 80% of rental listings on portals such as Idealista are of this type. The highest percentage in the Catalan capital and 27% more than just ten months ago, according to data that elDiario.es has collected throughout this period on the advertising portal Idealista.
More than with the arrival of visitors, some 2.5 million according to the most optimistic forecasts – a figure that few expect to be realized – the increase in seasonal rentals has been noted in Barceloneta with the arrival of the teams in the city. More than 2,500 people, including athletes, workers and their families, have arrived this winter in the Catalan capital looking for accommodation for a few months.
Although the Copa América is just one more factor in an already tense area where monthly rentals have proliferated across the city, certain key dates help establish the relationship. The graphs show that in Barceloneta, the number of such offers increased in January and decreased in February, after the arrival of the six teams competing for the trophy.
“We have been suffering from the threat for over a year, when we began to see workers arriving with the team and looking for apartments of 30 or 40 m2 for 1,300 or 1,500 euros,” says Lourdes López, from the former residents’ association of L’Òstia. This is one of the negative consequences reported from the beginning on the platform No to the Copa America, which brings together dozens of social entities against the organization of the event.
In the real estate sector, there is caution when it comes to linking the increase in seasonal rentals to the regattas, but it is acknowledged that the arrival of the teams has been noticed. “We noticed it in April and May, although since then it has not had the expected impact on housing, despite the fact that it has been heavily demonized,” explains the head of a local real estate agency. At Idealista, they see a link. “The target audience for seasonal rentals are executives who have come, for example, for the Copa América, digital nomads or managers,” say sources from the portal.
Guifré Homedes, from Amat Immobiliaris, says that the team’s employees have “gradually arrived” in the city and that although they have a preference for apartments near Port Vell, they are adapting to the few rental options that exist. In fact, he argues that if the Copa América is conditioning the market, it is because of the lack of supply. “Since we are in a context of very low supply, everything has an impact. Even if only a few apartments were rented for the event, it would still be noticed.”
It is common for offers to appear on Idealista and other advertising sites that use the Copa América as an attraction, with rents that exceed 3,000, 4,000 or even 6,000 euros per month. The one who has been around the neighborhood the most It was an apartment on Escar Street, at the intersection with Joan de Borbó Avenue, 140 m2 and with views of the sailboats: it cost 25,000 euros per month. “Now, on the same property, we rent a little cheaper, because there are fewer views, only 7,000 euros per month,” says neighbor Lourdes López sarcastically.
An option that escapes the law
Although the Housing Law capped rental prices and regulated some tenant rights, seasonal rentals do not appear in the regulations. Regulating it has been one of the demands of the entities that defend the right to housing since it came into force, because, as they denounce, it is a way for investors to circumvent the legislation. “When the government took the regulation, it knew perfectly well that it would be a loophole,” explains Martí Cusó, an activist from Resistim al Gòtic and member of the platform No to Copa America.
The Spanish executive is already working on a reform of the housing law to put an end to this phenomenon, but it still has no date. The one that has already tried it is the government of Catalonia, which approved at the end of May an emergency decree that included seasonal rentals in the rate cap and limited its use to strictly recreational cases. Parliament annulled the decree less than a month later, with votes against the PP, the PSC, Junts and Vox. But its effects were noticeable.
During the three weeks of application, the number of seasonal apartments fell, reaching historically low levels. But when the decree was canceled, they increased rapidly, surpassing those of April in June.
The curious thing about this is what happened to prices. While the decree was in effect, the few vacation rentals that remained – pending the cancellation of the rule, which was almost certain – pushed up prices, significantly increasing the average. When the decree was canceled, inflation fell considerably, but there was a residual increase that rebounded sharply in August.
A relevant fact is that in Barcelona, prices for seasonal rentals have remained stable over the last 10 months, unlike Barceloneta. In this neighborhood, which already had temporary rentals well above the city average, prices have increased by almost 3 euros per square meter since elDiario.es began analyzing them.
While prices for seasonal rentals in Barcelona have not fluctuated too much – until last August – long-term rentals have increased to the same prices as temporary rentals. In Barceloneta, the evolution of the cost of both modalities has gone hand in hand for months, so much so that it is felt that seasonal rental prices are setting the tone.
One of the most expensive neighborhoods in Spain
Barceloneta was born at the beginning of the 18th century, with the construction of a series of new buildings, all identical and with the same dimensions. 100 years later, the intense arrival of migrants dedicated to fishing posed space problems, so a decision was made: divide the houses into four.
This is how the term “house quarters” was born, which is the name still used today. Although modern and much larger apartments were built later, in the old area – which occupies most of the neighborhood – they all measure between 22 and 35 square meters and, as they are old buildings, they do not have elevators or large balconies. Just a small terrace, if you are lucky, and narrow stairs.
Despite these characteristics, Barceloneta became last September the neighborhood with the most expensive square meter in Spain, according to a report by Idealista. Above the neighborhoods of Pozuelo or Recoletos. But unlike these, which have the highest income per capita in the country, Barceloneta is below average. In other words: the price per square meter in Barceloneta is 1.8 euros more expensive than in Recoletos, but on average 61,100 euros less are invested in their housing per year.
Some might think that the culprits for this situation would be seasonal rentals, whose prices are usually higher than long-term rentals, but cheaper than a hotel. And normally, that’s how it is, but not in Barceloneta. In this neighborhood, the prices per m2 of both types are very similar (seasonal ones only cost 2 euros more), but at the same time, seasonal living is on average almost 300 euros cheaper.
The explanation is that seasonal apartments are smaller – they mostly represent “quarters of a house”. Indeed, tourists and foreign workers with high purchasing power find in these apartments an ideal refuge to spend a season or work remotely. On the other hand, those who choose to live in Barceloneta usually choose the larger apartments.
“Although it was originally a low-income area, the opening to the sea has made Barceloneta a highly coveted area. And this is increasing with events like the Copa America,” Idealista said.
From the no to the Copa America platform, they are also cautious when it comes to blaming only the competition for this price increase. But they do not hesitate to assure that this gentrification process is accentuated by the macro-event. “It is something that Barcelona does not need. It is not a popular sport and it serves to bring luxury tourism to a city that is already collapsed,” explains Cusó.
It remains to be seen how accepted the competition will be among the people of Barcelona and how many will come to watch the regattas, but for Cusó, good proof of the “elitist” nature of the event is shown in the mobility restrictions in Barceloneta, which has also seen some of its beaches closed to the public. “The real effects remain to be seen,” he warns.
