Latest news with #alojamientoTurístico
BBC News
20-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Spain clamps down on Airbnb as tourism backlash returns for summer
The Spanish government has called for the removal of the listings of nearly 66,000 properties on rental platform Airbnb on the grounds that they breach regulations for tourist accommodation. The clampdown comes as protests against over-tourism have begun ahead of the summer season. Demonstrations in the Canary Islands on Sunday attracted thousands of minister for social rights, consumer affairs and the 2030 Agenda, Pablo Bustinduy, said the rental properties in question had "violated various norms regarding housing for tourist use".The announcement followed a Madrid court ruling that Airbnb must immediately withdraw from the market 5,800 of the properties cited by the ministry. The properties are in six regions: Madrid, Andalusia, Catalonia, Valencia, the Basque Country and the Balearic Islands. Bustinduy's ministry is now awaiting further judicial rulings on the other 60,000 or so properties whose listings it deems to the ministry, the properties it has identified either did not provide a licence number, provided an erroneous number, or did not specify the legal status of the owner to show whether they were renting on a professional basis or as a private described the court's decision as "a clear victory for those who fight to protect the right to housing".Bustinduy added that "it can be possible to ensure that no economic interest has priority over housing and that no company, however big or powerful, is above the law".Housing has emerged as Spaniards' biggest concern in recent months, due to spiralling rental costs, particularly in larger towns and cities. Read more: Spanish fightback against record tourismThe cost of an average rental has doubled over the last decade, while salaries have failed to keep apartments have been identified by many as a major cause of the problem, depriving local residents of accommodation. Spain is the world's second most popular tourist destination after France, with 94 million foreign visitors in 2024, a 13% rise on the previous Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said earlier this year "there are too many Airbnbs and not enough homes", and he promised to prevent the "uncontrolled" expansion of the use of properties for tourism. Some local governments have also started to act against Airbnb. Barcelona City Hall has said it will eliminate its 10,000 short-term tourist apartments by the end of 2028. Others have taken a different approach. In recent months, Airbnb has reached agreements with local authorities in the Canary Islands, Ibiza and Murcia aimed at ensuring property owners comply with tourist rental responded to the court ruling and Bustinduy's announcement by insisting it would appeal against decisions linked to this case and that no evidence of rule-breaking by hosts had been provided. It also cited a 2022 ruling by the Spanish Supreme Court which found that the responsibility for listing information lay with the host of each property, not the company, which was a "neutral intermediary" and not a real estate firm also made a broader point about the Spanish housing problem."The root cause of the affordable housing crisis in Spain is a lack of supply to meet demand," said a spokesperson. "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."Last summer, Spain saw a wave of protests against over-tourism in many popular destinations, with its impact on housing the biggest grievance. With the number of foreign visitors to Spain fast approaching 100 million per year, the unrest is expected to continue this Sunday, several thousand people took to the streets across the Canary Islands under the slogan "Canaries have a limit". In Majorca, a group called Menys Turisme, Més Vida (Less tourism, more life) is preparing for similar actions, with a protest scheduled for 15 June.
New York Times
19-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Spain Orders Airbnb to Take Down 66,000 Rental Listings
The Spanish government on Monday ordered Airbnb to remove nearly 66,000 listings from its platform, widening a crackdown on tourist rentals as it seeks to alleviate a housing crisis that has become among the worst in Europe. The government said the listings were in violation of rules because they either lacked licenses, had fake license numbers or failed to reveal whether the property was run by a corporation or an individual. Airbnb said in a statement that it would continue to appeal all decisions linked to the case. A spokesman said the company would keep the listings up until the appeal made its way through the courts. Housing affordability has become a critical social and political issue in Spain, where mass demonstrations have been held across the country by people who say that the proliferation of real estate investors and the conversion of lodging into tourist accommodations have pushed families from their homes. The scarcity has helped drive up prices much faster than wages, putting affordable housing out of reach for many. Spain's consumer affairs minister, Pablo Bustinduy, said the action was part of a broader push by national, regional and local authorities 'to ensure that no economic interest takes precedence over the right to housing.' His agency had previously investigated Airbnb and notified the company several months ago that 65,935 listings did not meet legal requirements and would need to be taken down, but the company appealed in court. On Monday, Madrid's high court backed the order. The government will require Airbnb to remove a first batch of 5,800 ads on the site, and additional orders will be issued until all the illegal listings are removed, Mr. Bustinduy said. The company said that the root cause of the affordable housing crisis in Spain was a lack of housing supply and that stricter restrictions in cities including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Edinburgh and New York 'failed to ease local housing challenges while hurting local families who rely on hosting and driving up the price of accommodations for everyday travelers.' 'The solution is to build more homes — anything else is a distraction,' the company said in the statement. Airbnb's listings in Madrid and Catalonia, whose capital is Barcelona, are among those affected by the ruling on Monday. Barcelona had announced it would become the first European city to end licenses for vacation rentals, requiring owners to offer them as long-term lodging at capped rents by 2028 or put them up for sale. Mayor Jaume Collboni told The New York Times recently that tackling rising inequality that stemmed from the lack of affordable housing was the top priority. Spain's woes mirror the pain lashing other European cities: Residential real estate has increasingly been turned into financial assets by investors. A surge in global tourism and workers crossing borders has prompted landlords to favor short-term rentals over protected long-term tenants. Cities need more homes, but high costs and complex regulations have stifled construction. A once-vaunted stock of social housing across Europe to shelter struggling families has shrunk after governments sold them to raise cash. In Spain, the government has sought to reverse the problem with an ambitious program to build more affordable lodging and social housing. The prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, has sought to curb foreign buyers, including by proposing a 100 percent tax aimed at foreign real estate investors. And in December, Spain's Supreme Court ruled that homeowners' associations could prohibit tourist rentals in their building if they got a three-fifths majority to agree.
