Europe's Most-Visited Cities Move to Cap Tourism to Protect Housing

Facing a wave of nationwide protests over unaffordable housing and wage stagnation, governments in four EU member states moved on 18 October 2026 to tighten or freeze short-term tourist-rental rules in their most-visited cities. In Belgium, Brussels, Ghent, and Liège now require mandatory municipal registration and safety compliance audits before any property can be listed on rental platforms. Portugal has suspended new holiday-accommodation licences in high-density areas and is offering zero-tax incentives to landlords who convert existing holiday apartments back into long-term residential leases; rent-to-wage ratios in Lisbon and Porto have reached 70–80%. France limits primary-residence tourist lets to 120 days per calendar year and requires operators to offset every conversion with equivalent long-term housing; illegal rentals face fines of up to €50,000. Italy has made national identification codes (CIN) mandatory for all listings and raised short-term rental taxes from 21% to 26% for multi-property operators, with occupancy caps in Florence, Venice, Bologna, and Rome. Tourism boards warned that tighter supply would push prices higher for the remaining legal lets, while housing advocates argued the measures do not go far enough. The coordinated crackdown is directly linked to the broader protest movement that swept France and spilled across Europe in October 2026.