EU moves to curb tourist rentals as Liguria coast feels squeeze

The European Union is set to lay out rules helping European cities to clamp down on short-term rentals such as Airbnb in a bid to tackle rising house prices, according to plans seen by AFP on Friday. The proposal, reported by The Local Italy, comes as popular destinations across the bloc struggle to balance tourism revenue against the needs of local residents priced out of housing markets.

For Liguria, the timing is significant. The region's narrow coastal strip, from the port of Genoa to the Cinque Terre villages, has seen a steady conversion of residential apartments into holiday lets over the past decade. Local administrators have watched property prices climb while young families find it harder to secure year-round accommodation in the very towns that depend on seasonal visitors.

The EU initiative would provide a legal framework for cities to impose restrictions on platforms like Airbnb, which have been blamed for reducing the long-term housing supply in tourist hotspots. According to the plans seen by AFP, the measures are designed to give local authorities more tools to regulate the sector without running afoul of the bloc's single-market rules on digital services.

The proposed rules arrive at a moment when Italian tourism is rebounding strongly, with foreign visitors returning to the Riviera in numbers not seen since before the pandemic. Cinque Terre, a UNESCO-listed cluster of five villages connected by cliffside trails, has become a symbol of overtourism, drawing international media attention for the crowds that pack its narrow lanes and the cruise passengers who disembark at nearby ports for day visits.

Genoa's city government has already experimented with registration systems for short-term lets, part of a broader effort to manage the flow of visitors to the old town, a labyrinth of narrow streets that is one of Europe's largest medieval quarters. The EU framework could give such efforts more force, allowing cities to cap the number of days a property can be rented or require permits in designated zones.

The regional consequence is a familiar tension for Liguria, where the economy has long rested on two pillars: the port, which handles a significant share of Italy's container traffic, and tourism along the coast. Both generate jobs, but both also strain the region's limited geography, where mountains rise steeply behind a shoreline that leaves little room for expansion.

Housing advocates in the region have pointed to the conversion of apartments into holiday lets as a factor pushing rental costs higher in towns like Sanremo, Portofino and La Spezia. The EU move, if adopted, would likely be welcomed by local officials who have lacked the legal clarity to act more aggressively against the platforms.

The proposal is still at an early stage, with details to be negotiated between the European Commission, member states and the European Parliament. For Liguria's coastal towns, the outcome will determine whether they can reclaim some of their residential character from the tourism economy that sustains them.