Tourist apartments. How to apply to get one
Many homeowners and investors ask our experts at Hermes & Mathew about the requirements and how to apply to get tourist apartments. Their aim is to allow legal seasonally rents to tourists for their properties. In response to this high demand of enquires, our experts explain the procedure.
Although the Barcelona City Council stopped granting tourist licenses in January 2017, the Consistory has set in motion the Special Urbanistic Plan of Tourist Accommodation, known as PEUAT. This regulation has been created with the objective of regulating the implementation and management of properties with tourist license in Barcelona.
According to this Plan, the city is divided into four specific areas, considering the number of housing with tourist license within the same area, the number of vacancies offered by these establishments, population and the relevant tourist sights.
Tourist apartments: Zone 1
The most restricted zone and, nowadays with no possibility of obtaining a new license, unless this area regulations are modified in the future. The PEAUT indicates that no type of tourist accommodation can be implemented and, therefore, there is no possibility of expanding the number of the existing vacancies. What is implied in this statement? This means that, even if a property with tourist license ceases its activity, it is not feasible to set up a new one.
Neighborhoods which make up Zone 1 are,
Hostafrancs, Vila de Gràcia, Eixample, Sant Antoni, Poble Sec, Ciutat Vella, Vila Olímpica and Poblenou.
Tourist apartments: Zone 2
According to current regulations, the total number of vacancies and already existing establishments will be maintained in this area. Therefore, a new housing can be implanted with a tourist license if there is a previous withdrawal. The new establishment must have however, the same number of vacancies as the one which has fallen vacant.
The neighborhoods included in this area are,
Les Corts, Sants, Font de la Guatlla, Sant Antoni, Baix Guinardó, Fort Pienc, Poblenou and Diagonal Mar.
Tourist apartments: Zone 3
In this areas there is a wider margin to obtain a new tourist license housing. PEUAT states, that new establishments can be implemented as long as the maximum density of vacancies is not exceeded. At present, the only way to obtain a license is by contacting to whom the license is transferred.
Districts included in Zone 3 are,
La Sagrera, Les Corts, Vallcarca, Sarrià, Horta, El Guinardó, La Verneda and Nou Barris.
Tourist apartment: Zone 4
These areas are engaged in full urban transformation and hold their own regulations.
Neighborhoods included in Zone 4 are,
La Marina del Prat Vermell, La Sagrera and 22 @ Nord.
To keep in mind
New regulations for housing consider that certain areas have a specific treatment (ATE) because they require different implementation characteristics due to their morphology. Concerned areas by this feature are,
old quarters of Sants, Les Corts, Sarrià, Horta, Sant Andreu, Clot-Camp de l’Arpa, Farró, Sant Ramon Nonat and Vilapicina.
Current situation
At this time, new housing for tourist use (HUT) cannot be implemented, except for a decrease in vacancies in zones 1, 2 and 3, which are the areas with the highest hotel density in the city. A census has been created (CREATE -Tourist Apartment Reservation Census). New accommodations must be registered for future enhancements, waiting for an existing one to cease its activity.
Terms and conditions
Besides awaiting to start the tourist license activity, there is a set of conditions to comply established by the PEUAT,
- There must be neighborhood consensus
- The tourist license activity must not have been registered in the property before July 1, 2015
- Tourist license activity should not be performed on a ground floor
- In the block where the activity is carried out, HUT must not exceed the 1.48% in the area
When all these prerequisites are available, only the activity can be started in zones 3 and 4.
Finally, once the license has been obtained, the property must be registered in the AEAT. The next step would be the self-assessment of the public service of waste collection.
In case of needing more information about this type of housing, we recommend to read our previous article “Tourist apartments: requirements, procedures and obligations“, where all other aspects to be considered are reflected.
Please remember that Hermes & Mathew offers a wide portfolio of tourist apartments in different neighborhoods of Barcelona.