Barceló not planning Barcelona-type hotel licence moratorium

The Barcelona Hotels Association has decided to continue dialogue and an attitude of collaboration with the City Council in order to overturn the suspension of tourist licences for various significant hotel projects.
Three Majorcan hotel chains - Meliá, Iberostar and Barceló - are affected by this suspension, but they have expressed confidence in owners of buildings for which plans had been made for development as four and five-star hotels.
A source on behalf of the hotel chains pointed out that they were only managers of the hotels and so it was up to owners to make arrangements with the council.
The Balearic vice-president, Biel Barceló, says of the situation in Barcelona that it is a problem of saturation of every type, not only hotel projects but also residential accommodation that has created problems in particular areas. The new Mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, has tackled this by way of a decree (the suspension), and the hotel sector has largely understood her purpose which is overcome a breakdown in the balance between types of accommodation. He said that Barcelona was totally different to situations in the Balearics and that there was no consideration being given to anything similar here.
The Barcelona hoteliers say that the moratorium on licences should help to address the issue of illegal tourist accommodation establishments, with appropriate measures being taken to control and curb this practice while the moratorium is in place.