In recent years, the growing popularity of short rentals has transformed the European tourism landscape, bringing with it not only new opportunities for travellers, but also complex challenges for cities such as Florence e Barcelona. While these accommodation options offer economic benefits and flexibility to travelers, they have also fueled a dramatic increase in rental prices and a worry depopulation of the historical centres. This summer, the market of holiday homes he lived one tree unprecedented: the Reservations increased by 13% ei prices they rose 8% compared to last year. This scenario has pushed many cities to look for solutions to try to restore order in a sector that is now out of control.
New stop to short-term rentals: Florence tries again
Florence approved one new rule to limit short-term rentals in its historic center, that is, the apartments that are rented for short periods, like the ones above airbnb. The rule was introduced because many landlords prefer to rent to tourists rather than residents, which drives up prices and reduces the availability of homes for those who live in the city all year round.
The rule was adopted in October 2023, but on July 10, 2024 Regional Administrative Court of Tuscany declared it invalid. That's because the rule was approved as a change to the zoning code instead of being included in the operational plan, the official document that manages the city's development.
Il City of Florence ha corrected the error and resubmitted the rule. Now, it will not be possible to register new apartments for short-term rentals in the historic center. But, as the opponent Cecilia Del Re says, this rule could last "as long as a cat on the ring road", that is, very little. This is because a new national law, called “Save Home”, could limit the powers of cities like Florence to do so rules on short-term rentals. In practice, national law could make it difficult for Florence to maintain the new rule for long.
Florence it is not an isolated case: many Italian cities are suffering from the impact of short-term rentals, which contribute to the increase in housing costs and the risk of depopulation of historic centres.
Barcelona will ban short-term rentals from the end of 2028
Barcelona has decided to adopt a drastic measure to counter the proliferation of short-term rentals. The Spanish city, famous for its tourist attraction, announced that from 2029 it will no longer renew the over 10 thousand licenses existing for apartments intended for short-term rentals.
The city has decided to adopt a hard core, not limiting itself to blocking new licenses for Airbnb as in Florence, but completely banning short-term tourist rentals in apartments. This intervention was motivated by the difficulty of residents in finding a home and bydel% increase 68 of the prices of rents in the last 10 years. Florence, which has just over a fifth of the inhabitants of Barcelona, has even more Airbnbs (11.172 according to InsideAirbnb).
Valencia prepares the crackdown: heavy fines against the black market
Also Valencia is intensifying the fight against short-term rentals. The region has announced that it will impose fines of up to 600 thousand euros for apartments that do not comply with the new regulations. This intervention, which will be voted on by the regional parliament in September, is part of a package of regulations aimed at ensuring that all tourist facilities are regularly register e taxed.
The number of holiday apartments in the region has exploded in recent years, and most of them are not officially registered. In particular, the Valencia region, which includes tourist destinations such as Alicante, has seen an increase in holiday apartments from 40 in 2015 to 106 today, with an estimated over 50 unregistered holiday homes. With these new rules, Valencia hopes to bring order to an industry that has grown too quickly.
Boom in holiday homes: prices and bookings skyrocketing
This summer, the holiday home market has seen a significant rise in both prices and bookings. According to SoloAffitti, the average price per night increased by 8%, reaching i 210 € per person, while bookings grew by 13% compared to summer 2023. However, bad weather in June delayed the start of the tourist season, pushing many travelers towards last-minute bookings. Faced with these increases, Italians seem to adapt by changing their habits: almost half of bookings concern short stays, just a weekend or three nights. Families with children are the largest group among those who choose a holiday apartment, followed by couples and singles. Despite the price increase, the demand for holidays remains high, but is moving towards shorter stays and last minute offers. TO Milano, the oversupply of short-term rentals has reduced occupancy, leading many landlords to consider returning to long-term rentals. On the contrary, a Roma, the imminent Jubilee is pushing the offer towards short-term rentals, with forecasts of an increase in residential rents of 15-20% for 2025.
