Airbnb fined £56m by Spain for advertising unlicensed properties
The Spanish government has fined property rental giant Airbnb €64 million (£56 million) for advertising unlicensed apartments.
It was also stated that some properties advertised in the popular tourist destination were prohibited from being rented.
The penalty means Airbnb must withdraw ads promoting unlicensed properties. Although the Ministry of Consumer Affairs said the penalty could not be appealed, Airbnb said it planned to challenge the penalty in court.
Spain, one of the world’s most visited countries, has a vibrant tourism economy but this has raised concerns about affordable housing as high demand from visitors is driving up house prices and pushing locals out of the market.
“There are thousands of families living on the edge due to housing, but a few families are getting rich with business models that take people away from their homes,” Pablo Bustinduy, Spain’s Minister of Consumer Rights, said in a statement.
However, Airbnb said in a statement that it was “confident that the Ministry of Consumer Affairs’ actions contravene applicable regulations in Spain.”
A spokesperson added that since short-term rental regulations in Spain changed in July, Airbnb has been “working closely with the Spanish Ministry of Housing to support the implementation of the new national registration system.”
Like many countries, the Spanish government is concerned about how short-term vacation leaves can transform a neighborhood due to the impact of its transient holidaymaker population.
The country has been cracking down on thousands of Airbnb listings, banning them and restricting how many properties the firm can advertise. In May, Demonstrations were held against the company before the busy summer season.
The Spanish government said 65,122 ads on Airbnb violated consumer rules, including promoting properties that were not licensed to rent and properties whose license number did not match those on official records.
Writing on social network Bluesky, Mr Bustinduy said: “We will prove this as many times as it takes: no company, no matter how big or powerful, is above the law. Even less so when it comes to housing.”
Many popular tourist cities around the world place heavy restrictions on Airbnb, including Barcelona, New York, Berlin, Paris, and even San Francisco, where Airbnb was founded.
The tech firm was founded in 2007 but became hugely popular around 2014 as tourists sought cheap accommodation without the tax costs imposed on hotels.
Users have increased as anyone can become a “host” and earn extra money by renting out their spare rooms – but many major cities have placed limits on such rentals since complaints about noisy house parties and absent hosts became a problem.
