Europe remains the most visited region on the planet, and the numbers keep climbing. That success is now colliding with a housing problem that residents in Barcelona, Lisbon, Amsterdam and Athens know intimately: as short-term rentals multiply, long-term tenants are priced out, neighbourhoods empty of locals, and affordable stock disappears.
The tension between tourism revenue and liveability took centre stage at the Euronews Travel & Tourism Summit in Brussels, where two members of the European Parliament stepped into a live edition of The Ring to argue over what cities can realistically absorb.
Two lawmakers, two national perspectives
Regina Doherty, an Irish MEP from Fine Gael sitting with the centre-right European People's Party, and Sérgio Gonçalves, a Portuguese Socialist MEP from Madeira, brought distinct vantage points to the debate. Ireland's experience with concentrated visitor flows in Dublin and along the Wild Atlantic Way differs from Portugal's, where Lisbon and Porto have seen rents spiral as tourism recovered after the pandemic.
Both lawmakers operate within a European Union that has limited direct competence over housing policy, which remains largely a national and municipal matter. That constraint shapes what Brussels can actually deliver, beyond funding, data-sharing and platform regulation.
The housing crunch behind the postcard economy
The debate reflects a broader reckoning across the continent. Cities that once welcomed tourism as a clean growth engine are now weighing caps on short-term lets, tourist taxes and zoning restrictions. Amsterdam has restricted new holiday rentals; Barcelona has moved to phase out licences in some districts; Lisbon has faced sustained protests over evictions linked to holiday accommodation.
The economic case for tourism is not in doubt. Europe dominates global arrivals, and the sector supports millions of jobs from the Algarve to the Baltic coast. But the costs are increasingly visible: strained public services, seasonal labour markets, and the conversion of residential buildings into de facto hotels.
Environmental pressure adds another layer. As the European Travel Commission's warning on climate risk makes clear, extreme weather and shifting seasons threaten the very destinations that draw visitors, from Alpine ski resorts to Mediterranean beaches.
What Brussels can and cannot do
MEPs can shape rules on platform transparency, consumer protection and data collection, and they can steer cohesion funds toward housing. They cannot, however, simply impose rent controls or ban Airbnb-style rentals across the single market. That gap between voter expectation and institutional reality is where much of the frustration lies.
The summit also highlighted how tourism policy intersects with transport, energy and regional development. Discussions around new flight connections to Baku and Albania's tourism rebrand show how member states and neighbours are competing for the same visitors, sometimes at environmental cost.
For cities, the question is no longer whether to grow tourism but how to govern it. Options on the table include visitor levies earmarked for housing, stricter licensing, and incentives to spread arrivals beyond overcrowded centres. None is a silver bullet, and each carries trade-offs for local businesses that depend on footfall.
A continental dilemma with local answers
What emerged from the Brussels debate is that there is no single European fix. Housing markets, labour rules and property ownership patterns differ sharply between, say, Copenhagen and Athens. The EU can facilitate, fund and coordinate, but the hard choices will be made in city halls and national capitals.
The stakes are high. If residents conclude that tourism only extracts value without giving back, the political backlash will intensify. If cities over-restrict, they risk losing revenue that funds the very services residents rely on. Squaring that circle is now one of Europe's most pressing urban policy challenges.
