Barcelona City Council has identified 31 illegal tourist flats in one building at Travessera de Gràcia, 441, in the Horta-Guinardó district. The inspection on 5 June 2026 followed a citizen complaint about possible irregularities in tourist use.
The building has ten storeys, with a licensed hotel on the upper floors and 24 residential units. Of those homes, 19 had tourist use licences, known as HUTs, but inspectors found that many had been fraudulently divided without the proper permits.
According to the council, the original 19 flats, each about 60 square metres, had been split into 31 smaller units of around 30 square metres each. All were being used for tourism. Four of the smaller units had no authorisation, while others were operating under licences that the council says were obtained fraudulently.
The inspection was carried out by the Inspection Services Directorate, known as the DSI, together with Horta-Guinardó district works inspection services. The council said the visit also found unauthorised internal building works. More local news
Barcelona City Council has opened seven sanctioning files for very serious infringements of the Tourism Law, with possible fines ranging from €60,000 to €600,000. It has also opened 14 restitution and cessation files that could lead to the revocation of existing HUT licences, 13 files for the legalisation of construction works, and one sanctioning file for a serious Tourism Law infringement linked to overcrowding, with a fine between €3,000 and €60,000.
The council said the construction-related files will require the flats to be returned to their original state. They could also lead to further action under the Urban Planning Law or, if the subdivisions are judged to have created substandard housing, under the Housing Law. The DSI has revoked 202 tourist housing licences since 2018, and said its inspections in 2025 and so far this year have led to hundreds of sanctioning and restitution files. Barcelona City Council Generalitat de Catalunya
