Barcelona city council has approved plans to explore “legal tools” in order to ban investment funds and non-resident foreigners from buying property in the Catalan capital.
This follows recent headline-grabbing proposals from the Spanish government to tax non-resident non-EU nationals on property purchases at 100 percent, and even to ban them outright.
“Housing is for living and must fulfil its function,” said the city’s deputy mayor for urban planning, Laia Bonet. “In the context of a supply shortage, we agree that they cannot serve as a mere bank deposit, a tool for speculation and profit,” she added.
The measure passed Barcelona council’s Housing Commission with the support of ERC, Socialists and Barcelona en Comú. It was rejected by the Partido Popular, Vox and Junts.
Though the exact details are as of yet unclear, the council is essentially seeking ways to ban or limit the purchase of homes by investment funds or non-residents in Spain “if it is not for their own residential use or that of an immediate family member,” according to the proposal.
It is yet to be specified but Barcelona's potential property ban could be different from that proposed by Pedro Sánchez on Sunday January 19th, as rather than it just applying to non-EU non-residents, it would encompass all "non-residents in the country".
Therefore, this could mean EU nationals (French, German, Italian, Dutch etc), who don't live in Spain, non-EU non-residents (Brits, Americans, Canadians etc) and even Spaniards, if they don't reside in Spain.
ERC cited as an example cities such as Utrecht, in the Netherlands, where measures have been implemented “to curb the purchase of homes for speculative purposes.”
The proposal states that “limiting speculation would facilitate access to housing for many families” in Barcelona. It justifies such drastic action because young people in the city “are leaving home later and later, as they are unable to access housing.”
Housing has become an acute issue across Spain in the post-pandemic period. In Barcelona, this is especially true. In 2024 thousands of locals took to the streets to demand affordable housing and protest over-tourism and gentrification in the city.
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The proposals by Barcelona council reflect the growing salience of housing in Spanish society and politics more broadly in 2025. In less than a month, both the opposition PP and the Sánchez government have presented their own sets of solutions to the housing shortage.
The average monthly rent for a flat has now broken the €1,000 per month barrier in eight cities in Spain.
In Barcelona average rental costs are continuing to soar and are nearing €1,700, making the city unliveable for many locals.
In June 2024, the mayor of Barcelona announced that the city will bring an end to 10,000 tourist flats by 2028 simply by not renewing licences.
READ ALSO: Why does Spain now want to totally ban some foreign home buyers?
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