On Friday, February 27, Barcelona City Council will launch a pioneering call for grants. The aim is to make it easier for residents’ associations to legally prohibit the opening of new tourist apartments in their buildings. To this end, the council will finance the bureaucratic procedures necessary to modify the internal rules of the properties.
This measure stems from an agreement between the municipal government and the ERC group. The total investment amounts to €100,000. According to the Councilor for Housing, Jordi Valls, the initiative seeks to provide residents with tools to prevent activities that disrupt coexistence and promote residential exclusion.
Amount of aid and deadlines
Communities that decide to draft statutes from scratch will receive a subsidy covering 50% of the costs, with a limit of €2,500. In the case of buildings that already have rules and only need to modify them to include the tourist ban, the maximum aid will be €1,500.
The council will accept applications from properties that have approved these changes at their owners’ meetings from March 1, 2025, onwards. The specific budget for this section is €56,000, while the rest of the fund will be allocated to professionals and collaborating entities.
Requirements for protecting the building
To access public funds, residents must meet four basic conditions. The first is to expressly include in their statutes a ban on tourist accommodation or other economic activities that disturb the peace of the neighborhood. In addition, the text must be compatible with the official model agreed upon by the City Council and the property chambers.
An essential step will be registration in the Property Registry. Only then will the veto be valid for future buyers of apartments in the building. Finally, the homeowners’ association must prove that it is up to date with its obligations to Social Security and the tax authorities.
Support for managers and administrators
The call for applications does not only benefit residents. The plan sets aside €36,000 to directly subsidize property managers and legal advisors who manage these changes. These professionals will receive the aid provided that the process of amending the statutes is successfully completed.