Valencia just did something no other European city has done. It didn't cap STR's by nights.

It capped them by population.Here's the new rule, approved this month:→ Holiday homes can't exceed 2% of housing stock in any neighbourhood→ Total tourist accommodation can't exceed 8% of registered residents per district→ Only 15% of holiday accommodation can sit on ground floorsEvery regulation we've seen until now targets the same lever nights.30 in Amsterdam (dropping to 15 in some neighbourhoods from April).90 in Paris (down from 120 last year).90 in Vienna.The direction of travel has always been the same: tighten the number, add a decimal place of enforcement, repeat.Valencia is targeting density instead.And that's a fundamentally different mechanic.It ties STR supply directly to the population of the neighbourhood itself. As residents leave, capacity shrinks automatically.It builds in its own ratchet.So here's what I'm genuinely curious about:Is this the smarter model?A nights cap is blunt it punishes the compliant operator as much as the absentee investor.A density cap at least tries to measure the actual pressure on a neighbourhood, not the activity of a single listing.But it also raises questions:→ Who gets the 2%? First come, first served? Auction? Legacy operators?→ What happens when an area gentrifies and resident numbers fall do existing licences get clawed back?→ Does it just push activity to the neighbouring district?I can see the logic.I'm not sure I've seen it work yet.What do we think as an industry?Is density-based regulation the model the rest of Europe copies or the one we'll look back on as well-intentioned but unworkable?