Jose Alberto Carbonell, director general of the Port of Bareclona, admitted that the city suffered a problem with too many tourists but said cruises were not the principal problem.
Some 15.4 million people visited Barcelona last year, according to the Barcelona Tourism Observatory, a fall of 0.2 per cent compared with 2023. The sector, which accounts for about 14 per cent of the city’s GDP, experienced 10.5 per cent year-on-year growth.
Currently, there are seven terminals, but the council wants to reduce this to five.
A demonstration against cruise ships in Barcelona (Photo: Victor Serri/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Mr Carbonell said the port authorities were open to discussions with the council.
Meanwhile, other tourism groups have warned that targeting tourists will harm the city’s finances.
“This is bad news for the city that the mayor wants to expropriate the property of these owners,” Quique Alcantará, president of Apartur, told The i Paper.
Mobile World Congress, one of the biggest trade conventions, is about to start next week in Barcelona.
Barcelona escalates tourist crackdown with push to reduce cruise ship numbers
Read MoreProtests have been staged in cities across Spain against tourist flats, with demonstrators claiming that they push up the price of housing beyond the reach of local people.
Alberto Núñez Feijoó, the leader of the conservative opposition People’s Party, criticised the government’s housing proposals by suggesting alternative measures that should strengthen the law against squatters.
At present, housing laws in Spain are slanted in favour of renters, which can put off some owners from renting out their homes.
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