Hoteliers in Barcelona are enjoying a period of strong performance – helped, in part, by restrictive development policies introduced by city authorities.
The Spanish city has been at the forefront of worries around overtourism. The initial benefit of low cost airlines driving European visitors to the destination turned, over the last decade, from what was viewed as a positive, into something increasingly seen as having a negative impact on the city’s residents. The resulting clampdown is now having effects that can be seen in Cushman & Wakefield’s latest analysis of the Barcelona hotel market.
A strong hotel performance
The consultants looked at full service hotels in the city, over one year to May 2025. During that period, GOPPAR, or gross operating profit per available room, grew by 8.6%, a figure that rose despite expenses increasing 3.3% over the same period.
Hoteliers pushed room rates up 4.1%, to an average EUR264, while occupancy also modestly improved year on year, up 0.8% to 73.6%. Notably, visitor numbers improved strongly in January and December.
As part of the changing attitude towards tourism in the city, the mayor announced substantial restrictions on the development of new hotels in the city. This consequence can be seen in the hotel supply figures collated by Cushman & Wakefield, noting just five hotels opened during the year, while five closed. The net result was a 0.1% increase in total room supply, as 183 rooms left the market while those five new hotels added 645 rooms.
New openings included the SLS Barcelona, Ennismore’s substantial lifestyle hotel with 471 rooms. Developed by ActivumSG, it occupies one of the last major landmark hotel sites made available in the city.
The city has also sought to clamp down on short term rentals, turning its attention to listings on platforms such as Airbnb and Booking. The aim is to ensure that local people can find more long term rental properties to live in, improving affordability for those that live and work in Barcelona.
The agents point to one significant conversion during the year, as a former AC by Marriott hotel was rebranded as the Leonardo Royal Forum. In 2024, Hyatt also rebranded one of its Spanish hotels, creating the Grand Hyatt Barcelona from a property that was formerly a part of its Unbound Collection.
And Barcelona’s tight hotel supply looks set to continue. Currently there are just four hotel construction projects in the city, on the Top Hotel Projects database, yet three of these are refurbishments.
Few new builds on the way
The one current new build is a Meininger hybrid hotel, with 162 rooms. This is being built opposite the city’s Fira de Barcelona exhibition centre, due to open in early 2027, and will serve the economy segment of the traveller market.
At the Hotel Arts Barcelona, the 483 room luxury property that is part of Marriott’s Ritz Carlton brand, a refurbishment is planned for early 2026. The Hotel Miramar, which operates as part of the Hyatt network, is also undergoing an upgrade. And Atom Hoteles is carrying out refurbishment works at its METT Barcelona hotel in the city.
