Anyone put off by Barcelona's AirBnB clampdown has been urged to try a rival but "beautiful" city instead. The Spanish city of Girona is a 'beautiful' alternative to Barcelona, travel expert Simon Calder - an Independent writer and BBC and ITV regular - says. Mr Calder said locals complain AirBnB rentals "trespass" on their neighbourhoods and would rather see tourists staying in hotels.

He added that while locals welcome visitors and the boost they bring to the economy, they "just don't like" them "taking their homes". Mr Calder said: "Of course, if you don't want to go to Barcelona because you think, 'I'm not going to stay in an AirBnB there', you can go along the coast to beautiful Girona where they can certainly fit in a few extra tourists." READ MORE Jay Slater dad says 'that doesn't make sense' and rules out theory over disappearance The city’s leftist mayor, Jaume Collboni, said on Friday that by November 2028, Barcelona would scrap the licences of the 10,101 apartments currently approved as short-term rentals.

“We are confronting what we believe is Barcelona’s largest problem,” Collboni told a city government event. This meant that “from 2029”, if there were no setbacks, “tourist flats as we conceive of them today will disappear from the city of Barcelona”. Spain’s Socialist housing minister, Isabel Rodriguez, said she supported Barcelona’s decision.

“It’s about making all the necessary efforts to guarantee access to affordable housing,” she p.