Spain has launched a large-scale fight against uncontrolled tourist accommodation. The country's government has obliged Airbnb to remove more than 65,000 listings that do not meet the standards. The reason is the lack of licenses and transparency of information about the owners. This is part of a strategy to limit short-term rental housing by tourists, which, according to officials, harms the local real estate market. This is reported by UNN with reference to Reuters.
Details
As the Ministry of Consumer Rights reported today, the Spanish government has ordered the Airbnb platform to remove more than 65,000 rental listings for tourists that do not meet legal requirements.
According to the official statement, the main part of the violations is related to the lack of licenses to place housing on the platform. Many ads do not specify the permit number, and do not indicate who owns the property
This step is part of a large-scale campaign by the government, municipalities and regional authorities against the uncontrolled growth of tourist rentals through services such as Airbnb and Booking.com.
The authorities believe that such platforms deepen the affordable housing crisis and contribute to excessive tourism, which negatively affects the lives of local residents.
We want to put an end to chaos and lawlessness in the field of tourist housing rental. Our task is to ensure access to housing and protect consumer rights
Barcelona took a particularly active position, where Mayor Jaume Collboni announced in 2023 a complete ban on short-term rentals for tourists from 2028 - the most radical step of this type in the history of Spain.
Airbnb has not yet provided an official comment on the decision of the Spanish authorities.
Let us remind you
Earlier, UNN wrote that thousands of people in 40 cities of Spain took to the streets to protest, demanding a 50% reduction in rent, the termination of evictions and increased control over the real estate market. More than 15,000 protesters gathered in Madrid. According to the real estate agency Fotocasa, rent in the Balearic Islands, including Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza, has increased by 158 percent over the past ten years.