Barcelona tourist licence 2026: 10,651 registered holiday lets
To let a home to tourists in Barcelona you need a HUTB number from the Registre de Turisme de Catalunya and an urban-planning licence, since it is one of the 262 municipalities listed in Catalan Decreto-ley 3/2023; 10,651 homes in Barcelona are on the register (Generalitat de Catalunya open data, updated on 5 October 2026, downloaded on 5 November 2026).
Official sources: Generalitat de Catalunya open data: tourist accommodation on the Registre de Turisme de Catalunya · Ley 13/2002 de turismo de Cataluña, consolidated text (arts. 50 bis and 73) · checked on 5 November 2026
On the Registre de Turisme de Catalunya: 10,651 homes
Tourist homes listed online (INE, May 2026): 8,231
INE counted 8,231 tourist homes with 38,864 bed places in Barcelona in May 2026, 1.02% of all dwellings.
Official sources: INE table 39363: tourist homes and bed places by municipality, May 2026 · INE table 39366: tourist homes as a percentage of all dwellings, by municipality, May 2026 · checked on 5 November 2026
Not legal advice. This page summarises official texts and open data; it does not tell you whether a particular home can be let or keep its registration. Town halls set their own planning rules and communities of owners can restrict tourist use: before you buy, let or advertise, check with the regional tourism department and the Ayuntamiento, or ask a professional.
10,651 homes on the register against 8,231 counted by INE on the platforms: INE (Spain's national statistics institute) counts tourist homes listed on the three most used accommodation platforms in Spain, by web scraping and removing duplicates; it publishes the count twice a year, with reference dates in May and November. It is a different measure from the regional register, which also includes homes that are not advertised.
The rules in Catalonia
Registration number: Catalan law requires the Registre de Turisme number of tourist accommodation in all advertising, promotion and marketing (Ley 13/2002, art. 73.5).
- Barcelona is in the list of 262 municipalities of Decreto-ley 3/2023 where tourist use of a home needs a prior urban-planning licence. (Boletín Oficial del Estado)
- Tourist homes (habitatges d'ús turístic, HUT) are let whole, never by the room, and need the enabling title required by law before they are offered, marketed or advertised (Ley 13/2002, art. 50 bis). (Boletín Oficial del Estado)
- In the 262 municipalities listed in Decreto-ley 3/2023 (among them Barcelona, Salou, Sitges, Lloret de Mar, Cambrils, Girona and Tarragona), tourist use of a home needs a prior urban-planning licence, valid for five years (art. 1 and annex). (Boletín Oficial del Estado)
- Tourist homes already authorised in those municipalities on 9 November 2023 must obtain that licence within five years, that is by 9 November 2028, or stop the activity; the holder can ask the town hall once, between November 2027 and the end of the period, for an extension of up to five more years (transitional provision 2). (Boletín Oficial del Estado)
The town hall of Barcelona sets its own planning rules for tourist use: ask the Ayuntamiento (urbanismo) before you buy or start letting. Full details: Catalonia holiday let licence.
Check a registration number
Generalitat de Catalunya open data: the Registre de Turisme de Catalunya list, with each HUT number: search for Barcelona.
Questions
How many tourist flats are there in Barcelona?
10,651 homes are on the Registre de Turisme de Catalunya (Generalitat de Catalunya open data, updated on 5 October 2026, downloaded on 5 November 2026). INE counted 8,231 tourist homes listed on the main platforms in May 2026: the register also includes homes that are not advertised.
How do I check a tourist licence in Barcelona?
Search for Barcelona in the official source: Generalitat de Catalunya open data: the Registre de Turisme de Catalunya list, with each HUT number.
What are the rules for a holiday let in Barcelona?
The rules of Catalonia apply (see the regional page), plus the town hall's planning rules and, in a building, the community of owners.
Official sources
- Generalitat de Catalunya open data: tourist accommodation on the Registre de Turisme de Catalunya – Generalitat de Catalunya, open data, checked 5 November 2026
The register also lists holders' names: we use only counts by municipality. - INE table 39363: tourist homes and bed places by municipality, May 2026 – Instituto Nacional de Estadística, open data (JSON API), checked 5 November 2026
- INE table 39366: tourist homes as a percentage of all dwellings, by municipality, May 2026 – Instituto Nacional de Estadística, open data (JSON API), checked 5 November 2026
- Ley 13/2002 de turismo de Cataluña, consolidated text (arts. 50 bis and 73) – Boletín Oficial del Estado, BOE consolidated text, last update 17 March 2023, checked 5 November 2026
- Decreto-ley 3/2023 de medidas urgentes sobre el régimen urbanístico de las viviendas de uso turístico (Catalonia), consolidated text with the list of 262 municipalities – Boletín Oficial del Estado, BOE consolidated text, checked 5 November 2026
- INE, experimental statistics: number of tourist homes in Spain and their capacity (method) – Instituto Nacional de Estadística, web page, checked 5 November 2026
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