Mayor Jaume Collboni is opening the door to a new proposal that could change the city’s hotel landscape. Since this summer, the opening of “mini” luxury hotels in the center of Barcelona has been authorized, as long as they meet certain specific requirements.
This initiative arose in response to the growing demand for high purchasing power tourism and the need to maintain a balance in the city’s tourist load.
Mayor Collboni expressed his willingness to consider this exception in Barcelona’s tourist accommodation policy.
While the current plan prohibits the creation of new hotels in the city center, Collboni is willing to discuss the possibility of allowing small hotel establishments in the old town.
This proposal is known as “jewel hotels” and aims to attract visitors with high purchasing power and offer them a luxury experience in the heart of Barcelona.
“Mini” luxury hotels in the center of Barcelona: well-served tourists
The proposal to allow “mini” luxury hotels in the center of Barcelona is an attempt to balance the boom in high-end tourism with the city’s ability to manage the influx of visitors.
The mayor has made it clear that this measure does not mean a complete revision of the tourist accommodation plan, which aims to limit the expansion of hotels in the city center.
Barcelona has already reached its maximum capacity in terms of tourist load and the municipal administration is committed to combating the proliferation of illegal tourist apartments, a fight that has been ongoing in previous years.
The overall objective is not to increase hotel vacancies in the city center, but to provide a measure of exception.
Expansion of the hotel offer
The mayor stressed that there is still room for the construction of 4,000 hotel beds in zones 3 and 4 of the city, located outside the historic center.
In addition, it is expected that the construction of the La Sagrera intermodal station will lead to the possible construction of a new hotel in the surrounding area, in line with the urban development projects in the area.
The cruise policy in Barcelona has also been an important issue for the mayor. In fact, he expressed the intention to respect the institutional agreement reached in 2018 between his predecessor, Ada Colau, and the Port of Barcelona.
This agreement establishes the concentration of the cruise terminals in the adjoining dock, an area further away from the city center.
Collboni has also indicated his interest in working to turn Barcelona into a cruise ship base and reduce the number of stopovers of ships that currently only allow visits of a few hours in the city.
