The PEUAT (Pla Especial Urbanístic d'Allotjaments Turístics) is the urban planning instrument that decides, street by street, where a short-term tourist rental can legally exist in Barcelona. Approved in 2017 and revised in 2022, it remains in 2026 the core piece of any legal analysis of a HUTB licence in the city — though it now has to be read alongside three other rules that have overtaken it: Decree-Law 3/2023, Organic Law 1/2025 on horizontal property, and the City Council's announcement that all licences will be phased out by November 2028. This guide brings the full framework together, updated, and explains what it means for owners, buyers and owners' associations.
What is the PEUAT and why does it still matter?
The PEUAT is a municipal urban planning instrument, not a sector-specific tourism law. Its function is to divide the city into zones and set, for each one, whether new short-term rentals (HUT) are allowed, whether only the replacement of already-cancelled licences is permitted, or whether the activity is frozen outright. It was approved in a context of strong tourist pressure on certain neighbourhoods, with a declared goal of curbing the growth of tourist beds in the city centre and rebalancing supply toward areas with lower residential density.
Since its approval, the PEUAT has coexisted with successive regulatory changes that, rather than replacing it, have layered on top of it. In practice, assessing the viability of a HUTB licence in Barcelona today requires checking the PEUAT, the general urban plan, Catalonia's Decree 75/2020 on tourism, and, since 2023, the specific urban regime for municipalities under housing stress, all at once.
The four PEUAT zones
The plan divides the municipality into four zones with different regimes. The zone where a property is located almost entirely determines whether it is feasible to apply for, keep, or transfer a licence.
Zone 1 — Decline zone
Covers Ciutat Vella, much of Eixample, and parts of Sants and Gràcia. This is the most restrictive zone: no new licences are granted, and when a tourist flat ceases activity, its licence is extinguished with no possibility of replacement. The plan's declared aim is for the number of tourist beds in this zone to fall progressively over time.
Zone 2 — Maintenance zone
Includes neighbourhoods such as Sants, Fort Pienc, part of Les Corts, Diagonal Mar, Sagrada Família, Baix Guinardó and Font de la Guatlla. No net growth in licences is allowed here, but in certain cases a licence may be replaced by another that has been cancelled, keeping the total number of beds stable.
Zone 3 — Contained growth zone
Covers Vallcarca, Horta, Guinardó, Sarrià, La Verneda, Nou Barris, La Sagrera and part of Les Corts. This is, in practice, the only zone where a new licence could in theory be applied for, provided minimum-distance criteria from another tourist accommodation (100 metres) and maximum block density (around 1.48% between the number of HUT units and the number of homes) are met.
Zone 4 — Specific zone
Covers peripheral or distinctive areas of the city with a regime adapted to their own urban circumstances, generally more flexible than Zones 1 and 2.
PEUAT zoning should always be checked against the official current map published by the City Council, not against generic neighbourhood lists, because zone boundaries do not always match a neighbourhood's administrative boundaries.
Requirements to legally operate a HUT in Barcelona
Beyond the urban planning viability set by the PEUAT, a legal HUT in Barcelona must meet a set of formal obligations:
- A municipal licence with the format HUTB-XXXXXX, granted by the relevant district.
- Registration in the Registre de Turisme de Catalunya (RTC).
- A valid habitability certificate (cédula de habitabilidad).
- Prior notice to the owners' association and, since April 2025, express authorisation where required (see below).
- Registration and payment of the Tax on Stays in Tourist Establishments (IEET).
- Registration of guests with the Mossos d'Esquadra (in Catalonia this is not channelled through the national SES Hospedajes system, but through the Catalan police's own portal).
- Display of the HUTB licence number in all advertising and listings on booking platforms.
The absence of any of these elements — not just missing the licence itself — can trigger an independent penalty procedure, so compliance should be reviewed as a whole rather than by simply checking whether a HUTB number exists.
The urban licence under Decree-Law 3/2023
Decree-Law 3/2023, of 7 November, added an extra layer of control in the 262 Catalan municipalities declared under housing-access stress, Barcelona among them. In these municipalities, in addition to the standard tourism authorisation, a specific municipal urban licence is required to operate as a HUT.
This urban licence differs from the previous regime in two key ways:
- A quantitative cap: no more licences may be granted than result from applying a maximum of 10 HUT units per 100 inhabitants of the municipality.
- A five-year term, renewable only if the municipal urban plan expressly allows it.
In Barcelona, the City Council has chosen not to draw up a plan declaring tourist use compatible with residential use, which in practice closes off the route to new urban licences for HUT across the whole city.
The announced end of licences: November 2028
In June 2024, Mayor Jaume Collboni presented the so-called Pla Viure, announcing that the City Council will not renew any of the 10,101 HUTB licences currently in force in the city. The stated goal is that once they all expire — in November 2028 — the short-term tourist rental as it exists today will disappear from Barcelona, with those properties returning to the residential sale or rental market.
Legally, the measure rests on Decree-Law 3/2023 itself: by not adopting an urban plan enabling the compatibility of tourist use, the City Council allows existing urban licences to expire simply through the passage of the five-year term, with no possibility of renewal.
A HUTB licence currently in force remains fully valid until its expiry date. What changes is that, once that date arrives, renewal should not be expected, barring a future change in the law. Any decision to buy, sell or invest in a HUTB property in Barcelona should factor in this timeline.
Transfers and cancellation of existing licences
While the phase-out has not yet fully materialised, movement on already-granted licences is still possible:
- In Zone 1, when a licence is cancelled, it is extinguished with no possibility of replacement.
- In Zone 2, in certain cases a licence may be replaced by another ("one for one"), without increasing the total number of beds in the zone.
- In Zones 3 and 4, there is more room to manoeuvre, though always subject to applicable distance and density criteria.
Any purchase of a property sold "with HUTB licence included" should be checked documentarily to confirm the licence is still valid, that it corresponds exactly to that address — HUTB licences cannot be transferred to a different property — and that no cancellation or expiry procedure is under way.
Fines for operating without a licence or breaching the PEUAT
The penalty regime does not come from the PEUAT itself, but from Catalonia's tourism law, Llei 13/2002. The amounts set are:
- Serious infringements: €3,001 to €60,000.
- Very serious infringements: €60,001 to €600,000.
Beyond the fine, the authorities can order the immediate cessation of the activity and require the removal of listings from booking platforms. Operating without a licence, breaching PEUAT zoning, exceeding the authorised occupancy, or failing to register guests with the Mossos d'Esquadra are, among others, commonly penalised conducts.
The final amount of a fine depends on how the infringement is classified, whether there is repeat offending, and any mitigating or aggravating circumstances, all of which need to be assessed case by case. It should not be assumed that the maximum amount set by law will automatically apply.
Owners' associations: the three-fifths majority
Since 3 April 2025, Organic Law 1/2025 amended Article 17.12 of Spain's Horizontal Property Law and reversed the general rule: tourist activity in a building under horizontal property regime is now prohibited unless expressly authorised by the owners' association. That authorisation requires a favourable vote from three-fifths (3/5) of the total owners who, in turn, represent three-fifths of the participation quotas — a double quorum that must be met simultaneously.
The same majority allows the association to limit, condition or outright prohibit the activity, as well as to approve a surcharge of up to 20% on common-expense contributions for tourist flats, to offset heavier use of shared areas.
The reform has no retroactive effect: anyone already legally carrying out the activity before 3 April 2025 keeps that right, although the association may later use the same three-fifths majority to introduce limits or surcharges going forward.
If your licence is denied or you receive a fine
Facing a licence refusal, a cease-and-desist order, or a penalty procedure linked to the PEUAT, several lines of defence are worth distinguishing depending on the stage of the procedure:
- Submissions (alegaciones) during the investigation phase, to challenge the facts alleged or provide evidence in defence.
- Administrative appeal against the penalty decision, within the relevant legal deadline.
- Judicial review (contencioso-administrativo) once the administrative route has been exhausted without a favourable outcome.
- In certain cases, judicial challenge of a licence refusal where there are reasonable doubts about the correct application of PEUAT zoning to the specific property.
Deadlines are strict and missing them can close off the available defences, so it is worth acting as soon as a notification is received.
Frequently asked questions
Can I still get a new HUTB licence in Barcelona in 2026?
In practice, no. The PEUAT freezes new licences across almost the entire city, and the City Council has announced it will not renew existing ones once they expire either.
What happens to my HUTB licence if I already hold one?
It remains valid until its expiry date, but renewal should not be expected under the current municipal announcement, which sets the extinction of all licences for November 2028.
Do I need approval from the owners' association?
Since 3 April 2025, yes, unless the activity was already being carried out legally before that date. Approval requires a three-fifths majority of owners and quotas.
How much can a fine be for operating without a licence?
Between €3,001 and €60,000 for serious infringements, and between €60,001 and €600,000 for very serious infringements, on top of forced cessation of the activity.