Barcelona cannot absorb the continuous, unbridled increase in tourist numbers and must impose restrictions in order not to develop into a “theme park” without residentsthe mayor of Spain’s most popular city for foreign tourists told Reuters today.

Last month, Barcelona has pledged to end all short-term apartment rentals by 2028, with the aim of curbing the ever-increasing rent prices for the city’s residents. And earlier this month, images of an anti-tourism protest went viral after a group of protesters used water cannons to spray tourists, amid growing protests against mass tourism in Spain.

The Socialist mayor We live in Kolboni said he will continue efforts to limit supply since he cannot affect demand, which he noted appears to be unlimited and could grow between 3 and 8 percent a year, which “no city can could absorb.”

“If you have a theater with a capacity of 300 seatsyou can’t sell 500 (tickets) even if you have 200 people waiting in line… Everything has a limit,” Colboni pointed out during the interview given from his office.

Last year, some 26 million tourists visited the city of 1.6 million people, where tourism accounts for 15 percent of its economy and officials are already talking about a possible record for 2024.

“Tourism must serve the model of the city, not the other way around. This is what we do in Barcelona,” Colboni added, expecting others to follow suit in banning tourist apartments, following contacts he had with officials in other cities.

However, visitors increasingly prefer to rent vacation homes when traveling, with short-term rentals from foreign tourists in Spain to record a 24% increase between March and Mayaccording to tourism industry association Exceltur.

Colboni, whose term ends in 2027, has ruled out relaxing the ban, which he defends as legal despite court appeals already being filed, while a local government poll shows 75% of of Barcelona residents supports the measure.

When the city’s 10,000 tourist apartments are now off the market by 2028, that would be the equivalent of a property built over more than ten years, he said.

Nor does it plan to relax the existing ban on new hotels opening in the city centre, while it also seeks to increase council charges paid by cruise ship passengers staying less than 12 hours. The goal, he said, is for sea arrivals to stop growing after reaching a record high of 3.6 million cruise ship passengers in 2023.

At the same time, Colboni called the water gun protest “absolutely reprehensible” which did not characterize the spirit Barcelona represents, arguing that all tourists are welcome and demonstrations should not scare away visitors.