Barcelona plans to stop renting apartments to tourists

Barcelona plans to stop renting out apartments to tourists in a bid to ease the city's worsening housing crisis. Local authorities aim to make the 10,000 short-term rental apartments in Spain's main tourist spot available to local residents who complain about high prices. This is Barcelona on a hot summer day. It is the main tourist point of Spain. Millions of tourists flock every year to get to know the city's architecture, food, sea and history. Barcelona is home to 1.6 million people, but last year, 26 million tourists visited the city, many of whom stayed in rented apartments. Although tourism accounts for 15 percent of its economy, residents of the city of Barcelona took to the streets to protest against the high number of visitors, which has led to skyrocketing rents for locals. During an anti-tourist protest in Barcelona's Las Ramblas district this month, some protesters chanted “go home” and doused tourists with water pistols sitting at outdoor tables. Real estate prices in Barcelona have risen by an average of 38 percent over the past decade, a period in which the average rent rose by 68 percent, according to municipal authorities. In response to the housing crisis, Barcelona officials …