How life in Barcelona will get more expensive in 2025
New Year, new prices.
The cost of living in Spain is increasingly expensive these days, and in the Catalan capital this is often even more pronounced. This is especially true when it comes to renting and purchasing property.
But many prices are rising this year. Whether it be bills, transport costs or whatever else, here's what you need to know about all the price rises in Spain's second city in 2025.
Water bills to increase
In November the Barcelona metropolitan area approved new water rates, increasing bills by an average of 5.95 percent.
This will mean that bi-monthly water bills in Barcelona and 22 other surrounding municipalities are now almost €2 higher.
However, residents who consume less water will see an increase of just 2.9 percent, which is equivalent to a rise in line with the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and will translate into an increase of around €1 per month.
On the other hand, those who use the most water will see an increase of up to 6.72 percent.
Culture and leisure tickets
The cost of culture and leisure attractions in the Catalan capital is also going up.
The city's amusement park, Tibidabo, will go from charging €35 per adult to €39, and entrance to the Panoramic Area from €19 to €21.5.
At Park Güell, the second most visited attraction in Barcelona, the entrance fee will increase to €18 per person.
However, other cultural sites, such as the Barcelona Zoo, have kept their prices unchanged. Adults still have to pay €21.40, while children between the ages of three and 12 have to pay €12.95.
Children under the age of three are still free in 2025.
More expensive taxis
Taxis prices are also set to rise, with fares becoming 4.7 percent more expensive in 2025.
The new fares include the flat 'flag-down' cost, which rises to €2.75, and the kilometric rate is also going up by 3.9 percent during the day and 3.8 percent at night.
However, the T4 airport fare will remain unchanged at €45.
Public transport fares go up but Bicing remains the same
Staying on transfer news, Barcelona's metropolitan transport authority has approved new fares for 2025, with prices rising by 3 percent as of 15 January.
However, the T-Jove and T-Usual fare cards will continue to receive 50 percent discounts. Discounts will also be maintained for single-parent and large families, and the unemployed.
Tickets can be purchased with the 2024 fares until 14 January and will be valid until 28 February 2025, which, in the case of 90-day passes, will be extended to 30 April.
The prices for Barcelona's bike sharing system, Bicing, remain the same this year: a flat rate of €50 per year.
Other price hikes for 2025
Various other costs are going up in 2025.
As for cremation prices, Cementiris de Barcelona will apply the CPI increase.
At Mercabarna, in line with the CPI, the monthly fees for the use of stalls at the central fruit, vegetable and fish markets are going up by 2.9 percent.
Prices for municipal sports facilities managed by the Institut Barcelona Esports (IBE) have also increased. Season ticket and occasional admission fees have risen by 4 percent, while activities such as courses or court and field rentals have risen by 2.4 percent.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Local Spain
a day ago
- Local Spain
Leire Díez: The latest chapter in the corruption saga affecting Spain's PM
Politics A former member of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's Socialist party on Wednesday denied waging a smear campaign against a police unit investigating corruption accusations targeting members of his inner circle. Leire Díez has come under scrutiny after leaked audio records surfaced of her talks with a police commander and a businessman implicated in corruption probes. In the recordings, she appears to offer judicial leniency to both in exchange for potentially compromising information on top members of the Guardia Civil police force's anti-corruption unit. This unit is investigating graft allegations levelled against Sánchez's wife, brother and his former right-hand man, prompting allegations that she may have been trying to interfere with these probes. But Díez attempted to quash the growing scandal, telling reporters on Wednesday that she was conducting research for a book and was not working on behalf of the party or Sánchez. "I am not a woman in the shadows. I have been doing investigative work for years," she said a day after she resigned from the party. She also lashed out at what she called "calculated and fabricated leaks". Tensions flared at the press conference when businessman Victor de Aldama, a central figure in one of the corruption cases troubling Sánchez's administration, unexpectedly attempted to confront Díez. "She lies and mocks everyone," he shouted. The main opposition Popular Party (PP) has called for a protest in Madrid on Sunday against the government over the affair, accusing it of "mafia practices". The PP, as well as far-left party Podemos and Catalan pro-independence party ERC, have demanded that the prime minister appear in parliament to give explanations over the case. Sánchez has dismissed the probes affecting members of his inner circle as part of a "smear campaign" carried out by the right wing to undermine his government.
Local Spain
2 days ago
- Local Spain
Why Spain's Airbnb crackdown will likely make hotels more expensive
Ordering 66,000 illegal Airbnb ads to be taken down, banning tourist apartments in central areas and prohibiting new tourist licences - Spanish national, regional and city authorities appear to finally be taking action against short-term lets. This is all in a bid to return tourist rentals to the general market and help alleviate the housing crisis, which is currently the biggest problem Spanish society is facing. Rising rents and lack of housing mean that thousands are unable to find affordable places to live, an issue particularly affecting young people and those with low incomes. The unintended consequence of this, however, is that with few accommodation options to choose from, hotels don't feel the need to be as competitive and are increasing their prices. This trend has already been several in several places where Airbnb has been banned or the number of tourist apartments drastically limited. In New York, where Airbnb was banned in September 2023, hotel prices rose 20 percent and rents did not drop, forcing many to move out of the city. And in Barcelona, which has been restricting licences for the last 10 years, the average price of a hotel increased to €188 in 2024, from €174 in 2023, according to data from the Barcelona Hotel Guild. Prices are 30 percent more expensive than in 2019. Nevertheless, it's worth noting that hotel prices across the Catalonia region (not just Barcelona) have decreased by 2.1 percent this year, according to Spain's National Statistics Institute, the only region in Spain where they went down. Barcelona is now the third most expensive hotel destination in Spain, behind only Marbella and the Balearic Islands, according to a study by the consulting firm Cushman & Wakefield. Rental prices also rose 72 percent in the Catalan capital, and many apartments did not return to the traditional rental market. They were instead transformed into temporary lets, rented out for a few months rather than holiday lets for a few weeks in order to skirt short-term let legislation. Nine out of ten tenants in Barcelona now have temporary rental contracts, according to a December 2024 study titled 'Renting: insecurity guaranteed by law', published by the Barcelona Urban Research Institute (IDRA). The problem can also be seen in Madrid where landlords prefer short-term rentals of between one and 12 months, avoiding long contracts and price caps. Many even prefer to leave their homes empty rather than take on the legal five-year commitment to rent them out. Furthermore, Madrid city council now only allows tourist apartments in entire buildings dedicated to this purpose in the city centre. Hotel owners in the Spanish capital, which already raised their rates by a record 15.9 percent in 2024, will now feel even more empowered to hike their prices as competition from Airnbnb is decreasing. And it's not only in Spain's two biggest cities where this is happening. Ads for unlicenced Airbnbs in Andalusia, Valencia, the Balearic Islands, and the Basque Country are all being removed. In the Andalusian province of Málaga there are 43,366 illegal tourist homes, according to data from the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and in Valencia, the local government say that there are around 12,000 tourist apartments in the city and the majority of them are illegal. This paves the way for hotels to increase their prices in these regions as well. In Málaga the average daily hotel rate has grown the most in the whole of Spain, with a 21.09 percent increase compared to the same period last year. And in Valencia prices rose by 11.1 percent in 2024 compared to 2023. Taking down ads for illegal apartment rentals isn't the only measure the Spanish authorities have been working on to reduce the number of tourist apartments in top destinations across the country – both legal and illegal. Other regulations include issuing bans on tourist licences in historic central areas and making the rules for getting a tourist licence much stricter such as requiring a tourist apartment to have a separate entrance, to be on a certain level of a building and allowing neighbours to veto the request if they choose. Overall, this increase in hotel prices isn't just affecting foreigners, Spaniards travel a lot within their own country, particularly during key times like Easter and summer. These price hikes are only going to make it harder for the average population to travel too, in addition to struggling to pay rent and mortgages.
Local Spain
5 days ago
- Local Spain
Inside Spain: Another bid to limit foreign buyers and house brands rule
If foreign property buyers from wealthy Western nations currently feel targeted by the Spanish government, it's not hard to understand why. In April, Pedro Sánchez's administration scrapped the golden visa residency scheme which gave non-EU nationals Spanish residency in return for buying property worth €500,000. Last week, the ruling Socialists officially lodged their proposal to charge a 100 percent tax on non-EU non-resident property buyers, effectively doubling the price they pay for homes in Spain. There have also been proposed foreign property ownership limitations put forward by authorities in the Canaries and the Balearics. And most radical of all was the suggestion submitted by Catalan separatist party ERC to require actual foreign residents to apply for a permit to buy a Spanish property if they haven't become permanent residents yet. In other words, if they haven't officially resided in Spain for five years. This proposal was rejected by Spain's Congressional Housing Committee in late April, but now ERC are trying to get such a law passed only in Catalonia. The idea is the same as that shelved a month ago - a regional authorisation system whereby foreigners planning to buy a home would first have to prove their eligibility by applying for a permit from the housing department of the region where the property is located, in this case Catalonia. The criteria for this would be first proving five years of continuous residence in the country, so it would exclude those with a temporary resident card from being able to buy a home. The initiative will be debated in the Catalan Parliament next week. 'You can't have a situation where a firm on the other side of the world buys real estate for speculation,' ERC MP Mar Besses said. ERC's Secretary General Elisenda Alamany has also defended the proposal by saying that 'we want people who buy to show their commitment to the city (Barcelona), as it's the way to guarantee our identity and communal lifestyle.' Both points made by members of ERC are certainly valid and understandable, but they seem to be more directed at investment companies as opposed to the temporary residents who they are looking to stop from buying homes. Can their residency in the northeastern region and desire to buy a home there be considered 'speculation'? Just as is happening with the crackdown on Airbnbs in Spain, the lines between huge businesses focused just on profits and people with one or two homes in Spain are becoming blurred. Protestors hold a banner reading 'The neighbourhood is not for sale' during a demonstration to demand better access to housing in Barcelona on November 23, 2024. (Photo by Josep LAGO / AFP) In other matters, there was a time not long ago in Spain when buying Mercadona's Hacendado house brand was almost seen as defining one's class or socioeconomic status. The idea for many was that if these marca blanca (house brand) products are cheaper, they must be of a worse quality. It's a silly concept most of us are guilty of at some point, one which doesn't factor in the lower cost of distribution, packaging and marketing for supermarkets who produce their own products. Fortunately, through a combination of necessity and change of mentality, Spanish shoppers have gotten over their prejudices about house brands. Spaniards buy 20 percent more house brands now than they did in 2003, representing 44 percent of their grocery shopping, according to a study by Kantar for Spanish business daily Expansión. In some cases, the percentage is even higher: Lidl (82.1 percent), Mercadona (74.5 percent), Carrefour (40 percent), Día (57 percent). And according to their findings this shift isn't just about tightening one's belt because of the rising cost of living, although they admit that this has been the catalyst. Supermarkets in Spain have developed their own premium differentiation strategy - with different categories of house brands - which has broken the traditional monopoly of the big name brands. Now the marca blanca isn't 'the worst option' but the 'cheapest option', and this change of perception makes a difference. Unfortunately, the downside of improving house brand products - whether in reputation, appearance or actual quality - is that they've been getting more expensive. Then again, what hasn't?
