Being one of the most beautiful cities, Barcelona still attracts people from all over the world. With its unique arquitecture, manifold cultural highlights, a flourishing economy and its historical background, the city has kept its special character and still continues to strengthen this position. However, problems arise at the same time when it comes to the costs of living and the renting of an accommodation. Taking a closer look at the entire Spanish economy and the Catalan in particular will lighten some concerns.
Growing three times faster than any other European economy for the past 5 years (2005 the GDP achieved a growth of 3,5%), Spain now has to face its effects like higher living costs, increasing rents and growing competition within the market of accommodation. Especially the renting of accommodation has considerably grown and indicates a rate of 4,3% in the year 2005 in the case of Catalunya. Additionally, the costs of living have risen steadily and in the year 2005, Barcelona found itself for the first time under the top 50 (rank 46) of the most expensive cities worldwide. Combining this data with the fact that Barcelona is still accumulating more tourists at a pace of 11% more in 2005 compared to 2004, this leads to further problems for the Spanish people and even more for the tourists visiting Spain. They will have to face a more expensive holiday-country with a capital (Madrid), which is 3rd rank of the most expensive cities in Europe.
As a consequence, new ways of finding a flat have been established and internet-providers are growing constantly, thus reaching a fairly high costumer-rate. The internetprovider www.oh-barcelona.com , for instance, has risen to a flourishing company since its beginnings in 1998. They offer a wide range of apartments, hotels or vacational rentals. Data like the 15.000 daily visits clearly point to the growing demand in this sector and indicate a high use of this service. However, focussing on students and other visting foreigners, they also have to face higher prices for renting and accommodation. For incoming tourists this implies to make a selective choice in searching for a flat or a hotel. Furthermore, due to higher costs when renting a flat, they tend to spend less time on their vacation in Spain. This leads to a loss of competitiveness of Spain in comparison to other summer-destinations like Egypt, Greece or Turkey. Online services will benefit by these costumers, who look for a flat on the spot or just for having short-term vacations. Concerning companies and business-travellers however, this option of short-term stays could mean a better use and higher savings for companies as offers are generally cheaper than hotels. Moreover, this internetservice provides a manifold variety of accommodations and therefore should be considered as a serious alternative by managers and different corporates.
Eventually, the economic development in Spain and its accompanying circumstances which have been illustrated will not stop owners to react on the increasing demand for accommodation with higher rents. However, competition within this sector may open more opportunities for tourists and generate a more transparent market.
