Is Spain introducing a tourist ban for UK visitors? What new rules mean for your holiday
Is Spain introducing a tourist ban for UK visitors? What new rules mean for your holiday
Share:
Everything holidaymakers need to know about the new rules. New restrictions are set to affect tourists visiting Spain as authorities in the popular holiday destination increase measures to curb the impacts of overtourism. The move follows the wave of anti-tourists protests that has spread across the country and other European destinations over the past year.
![[Anti-tourism protests take place in Barcelona, 19 June 2024]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/14/11/Spain_Foreigners_Housing_Tax_17687.jpg)
Although it has been called a “tourist ban” by some, the new rules won’t stop tourists from visiting the country. It will, however, have some impact on how Britons should plan for their holidays. Policies to prevent overtourism are already underway for places in popular destinations like Barcelona, Mallorca and Tenerife. From this year, they will also be coming to Malaga, in the country’s Costa Del Sol region.
The move has come to address locals’ concerns about overcrowding in the city, alongside property prices and rents become increasingly unaffordable for them. As with several other locations, the plans take aim at the influx of holiday rental properties which can increasingly be found in the city’s central districts. Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez said: “It isn’t fair that those who have three, four or five apartments as short-term rentals pay less tax than hotels or workers.
“The government’s duty is to prioritise residential use of housing and prevent speculative and touristic uses from expanding in a totally uncontrolled manner at the cost of residents.”. For the next three years, new holiday rentals will not be allowed to be registered across any of Malaga’s 43 districts, matching policies in place in areas across Spain.
