At the Bloomberg City Lab forum in Madrid, the mayors of Barcelona and London announced their intention to return the city centers to their residents. The meeting took place amid growing pressure on housing, tourism, and climate challenges sharply affecting major European capitals.
Barcelona’s mayor Jaume Collboni and his London counterpart Sadiq Khan emphasized that both capitals face similar problems: rising rental prices, displacement of local residents from the center, and a deteriorating urban environment. As examples, they cited projects to revitalize La Rambla in Barcelona and Oxford Street in London, which are aimed at making city spaces accessible to the residents again. This summer, teams of specialists from both cities will begin sharing best practices on these initiatives.
Restrictions on rentals and tourism
Collboni specifically noted that Barcelona is tightening controls over the rental market: the city is introducing a cap on price increases and will stop renewing licenses for tourist apartments starting in 2028. According to him, this will return about 10,000 properties currently used for short-term rentals back to the market. The mayor also reported that the city is building new social housing — with 10,000 such apartments already planned.
Sadiq Khan, who heads the international C40 Cities network, said that London intends to learn from Barcelona and use its experience to tackle its own housing and transport challenges. He stressed that cities should not compete, but rather cooperate to respond more effectively to today’s challenges.
Political debate and new initiatives
The forum in Madrid became a platform for discussing not only urban initiatives but also political disagreements. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez highlighted Barcelona and Vitoria as examples of successful policies in housing and urban development, contrasting them with the approach of right-wing parties, which he believes ignore the climate agenda. Madrid Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida, in turn, emphasized the acceleration of new housing construction and plans to increase the number of homes to 150,000, or potentially even three times that amount.
Colboni presented an innovative housing renovation project using artificial intelligence, which has already received recognition from the Bloomberg Foundation. This system helps speed up approvals, facilitate financing, and increase transparency for residents.
European agenda and exchange of experience
For two years, Barcelona has coordinated the ‘Mayors for Housing’ network, which includes Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, Athens, Dublin, and Munich. Thanks to joint efforts, the issue of affordable housing has, for the first time, reached the EU level, where there is now a dedicated commissioner for this sector. Colboni believes that defending the right to housing is defending democracy, especially against the backdrop of disinformation and authoritarian trends.
Housing and urban space issues are becoming increasingly urgent in Spain’s major cities. Recently, residents of municipal housing in Madrid protested against the threat of eviction, sparking a public debate between authorities and the opposition. More about the reaction of the Madrid mayor to the protests can be found in the article about the confrontation between municipal tenants and city authorities.
