Special Urban Plan in Barcelona for the regulation of Tourist Accommodation establishments

Description of project by Barcelona City Council + Barcelona Regional + Duatis Arquitectes

The Special Urban Plan for the Regulation of Tourist Accommodation Establishments, Youth Hostels, Housing for tourist use, shared homes and collective residences for temporary accommodation in the city of Barcelona (PEUAT) aims to: 1) alleviate tourist pressure in certain areas of the city; 2) seek balance and urban diversity, guaranteeing a sustainable fit between tourism and other activities; and 3) guarantee the quality of life of citizens, preserving the right to housing, rest, privacy, and the well-being of the neighborhood.


Diagram. Special Urban Plan in the city of Barcelona by Barcelona City Council + Barcelona Regional + Duatis Arquitectes. Photograph courtesy by Ayuntamiento de Barcelona.

The PEUAT is an innovative instrument that has made Barcelona the first city to regulate these characteristics. The strong pressure to which the city is subject makes it necessary to establish mechanisms that prevent the substitution of residential use and make it easier for residents to stay in their homes. In addition to guaranteeing that tourist accommodation replaces the use of housing, the PEUAT establishes specific conditions by means of a delimitation by zones that protect the most saturated neighborhoods. Negative externalities derived from tourism are prevented from aggravating, and it allows for an orderly implementation of accommodation in the most decongested neighborhoods.

The regulation in these specific areas is established based on the existing offer of accommodation, the proportion between the number of places they offer and the resident population, the conditions in which certain uses occur, the incidence of activities in public space, the presence of tourist attractions, as well as the morphological characteristics of its fabrics.