What has the Spanish government done?
It has told holiday accommodation platform Airbnb that its Irish subsidiary, which manages much of its European operations, must take nearly 66,000 of the company’s apartment listings off the market.
Pablo Bustinduy, minister for consumer affairs, said that the properties, in six different regions of Spain, all breached regulations for tourist accommodation. Some, for example, did not list a licence number, while other listings did not show whether the owner was a private individual or a business.
A Madrid court has backed the Spanish government’s request for the immediate withdrawal of about 5,000 of those properties, with the remainder still pending further judicial rulings. Bustinduy celebrated the court’s backing, saying that “no company, however big or powerful, is above the law”.
Is tourist accommodation the real issue here?
Yes and no. Spain has suffered a severe housing crisis caused by a sharp increase in rental costs in recent years – the average rent has doubled over the past decade. There are a number of causes, such as a lack of social housing and red tape slowing down the construction of new homes. But as the number of foreign visitors to Spain each year approaches 100 million, many see tourist apartments as a major culprit, particularly in city centres where they push prices up and drive local people away. In some tourist destinations the problem has become extremely acute; in one area of central Málaga, for example, more than 80 per cent of homes are short-term tourist flats.
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What was Spain’s relationship with Airbnb before this latest announcement?
Mixed, at best. Earlier this year, the socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said there were “too many Airbnbs and not enough homes”. Meanwhile, the mayor of Barcelona has already announced plans to eliminate the city’s 10,000 or so registered short-term holiday rentals by the end of 2028. Some local governments, however, are taking a more conciliatory approach: authorities in Ibiza, the Canary Islands and Murcia have signed deals with Airbnb to co-operate in ensuring existing regulations are obeyed by hosts.
What does Airbnb say?
The company insists that no proof of rule-breaking on its platform has been provided and that it intends to appeal against the ruling. It also pointed to a previous decision by Spain’s supreme court which, the company said, placed the responsibility for property listings on the owners in question, not the company.
A spokesperson for Airbnb said: “Governments across the world are seeing that regulating Airbnb does not alleviate housing concerns or return homes to the market – it only hurts local families who rely on hosting to afford their homes and rising costs.”
