Barcelona is banning Airbnbs. Other European cities have cracked down already — with some success.

• Barcelona is the latest global city to effectively ban short-term rentals, including Airbnb.
• City officials feel restricting tourist rentals helps keep housing affordable for local residents.
• Lisbon, Florence, and Amsterdam have levied Airbnb bans that experts said could be working.

In July, thousands of Spaniards took to the streets of Barcelona to protest overtourism. Protesters squirted water from toy guns at visitors sitting at sidewalk cafés.

The demonstration was the culmination of years of surging visitor numbers and rising housing and other living costs in the seaside metropolis. Barcelona's mayor has declared skyrocketing rents and home prices the city's "biggest problem."