That does kind of miss the whole point of the article. If you are a resident, you rent an apartment, and pay an extra 23% that in part is due to the ease at which firms like AirBnB let speculators buy up apartments and rent them out to tourists for a profit.

Tourism is good for Spain, that's not lost on anyone. But the profits are not evenly distributed. Not all social problems can be solved by the market.

If it's somebody renting their flat or extra rooms then it's not a problem. I'm in a lovely Airbnb right now sitting in the beautiful back yard. The problem is when people have 10 apartments or whole houses cut up into rooms. This happens in Berlin. That is a professional operation avoiding professional costs. That isn't the market deciding, it's unfair competition by evading tax and insurance that a hotel must pay for. And it really is hurting locals in places like Berlin that have a severe shortage.

The concept of "student hotels", which is a step above most hostels, is quite well-known in Barcelona, e.g. http://www.melondistrict.com/en/barcelona/