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THE US-based short-term rental site Airbnb has been slapped with a €64 million fine by the Spanish government over more than 65,000 adverts encouraging customers to rent out unlicenced tourist apartments.
The Ministry of Consumer Affairs announced that it has identified 65,122 ads on Airbnb’s site promoting tourist apartments which violate consumer protection laws.
Investigators found advertisements that listed accommodations without the necessary licenses required by Spanish law.
Some of the postings are even misleading. They tell potential customers that a property is licensed when it’s not.
In total, Airbnb will be forced to cough up a fine of €64,055,311 – six times the profit raked in from the illegal listings by the company, which pocketed a net income of over €2.2 billion last year.
READ MORE: Spain’s Airbnb Crisis Exposed: One third of homes in tourist hotspots are now short-let
The rental site does not have the right to appeal. It will be forced by law to remove all content that is illegal from its platform and correct any breaches identified.
Pablo Bustinduy said that thousands of families are living on the edge of poverty because of housing. Meanwhile, a few people become rich through business models which force them out of their homes.
“No company, regardless of how powerful or large, in Spain is above the law,” said he.
In July, Pedro Sanchez’s Government passed a new law that ordered the removal of unregistered vacation rentals from websites such as Airbnb or Booking.com.
Airbnb will begin sending monthly to the Ministry of Housing all information required under regulation, including state and region registration numbers of listings, starting in August 2025.
READ MORE : Airbnb starts removing holiday rental properties in Spain that do not have a rental registration number
The goal of the campaign is to eliminate fraud in holiday or tourist rentals which violates citizens’ rights to decent accommodation.
According to a report by the National Statistics Institute (INE), Spain is home to nearly 400,000 tourist rental flats – making up 30 per cent of housing stock in some popular neighbourhoods.
Rents in Spain have risen dramatically in recent years, and many residents blame this on the increase of visitor accommodation.
The anger has led to mass protests erupting in cities including Alicante, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca and Barcelona, with demonstrators marching under banners such as ‘Our city is not for sale’ and ‘Tourists go home’.
Madrid, Malaga, and the Canary Islands authorities have pledged to tighten rules on permits to combat overtourism.
Barcelona’s mayor Jaume collboni announced in 2018 that all licenses for tourist flats will be revoked within the city by 2028.
READ MORE : Widow of 80 faces fines or eviction after Barcelona Airbnb ban cracksdown on locals renting rooms to survive
He said that the increasing cost of real estate in the city has forced him to take action. Rental and purchase prices have risen by 70% and 40% respectively over the past decade.
He said: “We can’t allow that the majority of young people who are forced to leave their homes must leave Barcelona.”
“The actions we have taken won’t change the situation overnight.” All of these things take time. With these measures, however, we have reached a turning point.”
According to the rules enforced in Collboni, anyone renting out a room less than 31 consecutive days is considered a tourist operator and must have an authorization from the city council.
Landlords and dozens of Catalans living in the capital have criticized this move. They claim that they must rent out rooms to be able survive.
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