Barcelona names tourism chief to curb visitor numbers and reclaim La Boquería

After decades of promoting Barcelona as a Mediterranean destination, city authorities have named José Antonio Donaire as the first commissioner for sustainable tourism. His task is to limit visitor numbers and return the city’s most famous market to local residents.

Last year the Barcelona area drew 26 million visitors, a 2.4% increase from the previous year. Donaire says the city has reached its maximum capacity. “We don’t want more tourists, not even one more, but we need to manage those we have,” he said.

The appointment marks a shift from treating tourism as an unqualified benefit to viewing it as a strain on residents and local identity. Donaire plans to restore La Boquería market to its original role as a place for fresh food. Takeaway snacks will be banned once a majority of stall holders agree. “Within a year you’ll see the new Boquería,” he said.

The city began restricting new hotels in the centre in 2017, but short-term rentals listed on platforms such as Airbnb largely offset the measure. In 2028 the licences for Barcelona’s 10,000 legal tourist apartments will end. Officials hope most of the units will return to the long-term rental market and ease the housing shortage.

Donaire said the city will offer incentives to landlords to place the properties back on the residential market. He noted that the housing stock currently grows by about 2,000 homes a year. Adding the 10,000 apartments would equal five years of that growth.

The new policies aim to change the mix of visitors rather than cut total numbers. About 65% of visitors come for leisure. Donaire wants to reach an equal split among leisure, cultural and business travellers. The city will also reduce cruise ship berths from seven to five, though it will still receive more than three million cruise passengers each year.

Day trippers, who number about seven million a year and mostly arrive by coach, will remain unaffected by hotel and apartment rules. Barcelona has raised parking fees and moved coach parking to the city’s edge to limit their impact.

Donaire also plans to steer repeat visitors, who make up half of all tourists, toward areas such as Montjuïc park and day trips outside the centre. The city has banned organised pub crawls and will spend part of the increased tourist tax on local shops in the centre, where souvenir and cannabis outlets now dominate.

Donaire, a professor at the University of Girona and former director of its tourism research institute, says many residents feel the city centre no longer belongs to them. He and city leaders hope the new measures will restore that sense of ownership after three decades of rapid tourism growth.