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Spain Blocks More Than 65,000 Airbnb Holiday Rental Listings (reuters.com) 63

Posted by BeauHD from the rental-crackdown dept.
Spain has ordered Airbnb to remove over 65,000 listings that violate rental regulations, citing missing license numbers and unclear ownership details. The crackdown is part of a broader government effort to address the country's housing crisis, which many blame on unregulated short-term rentals reducing long-term housing supply. Reuters reports: Most of the Airbnb listings to be blocked do not include their licence number, while others do not specify whether the owner was an individual or a corporation, the Consumer Rights Ministry said in a statement on Monday. Consumer Rights Minister Pablo Bustinduy said his goal was to end the general "lack of control" and "illegality" in the holiday rental business. "No more excuses. Enough with protecting those who make a business out of the right to housing in our country," he told reporters.

Bustinduy said Madrid's high court is backing the request to withdraw as many as 5,800 listings. Airbnb will appeal the decision, a spokesperson said on Monday. The company believes the ministry does not have the authority to make rulings over short-term rentals and failed to provide an evidence-based list of non-compliant accommodation. Some of the incriminated listings are non-touristic seasonal ones, the spokesperson said.

Spain Blocks More Than 65,000 Airbnb Holiday Rental Listings More | Reply

Spain Blocks More Than 65,000 Airbnb Holiday Rental Listings

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  • "unregulated short-term rentals" (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 20, 2025 @07:26PM (#65391841)
    Is that the new euphemism for illegal hotel?

    • A rental and a hotel aren't obviously the same.

      Hotel require to offer more services, while at the same time, a rental is a temporary lend of rights and obligations to a third party that doesn't exists in a hotel.

      Different things.

      That's said, because they share a lot of the same market, and because hotels have to offer more services, they are clearly more expensive, so house rentals are cheaper than hotels.
      But at the same time, as in holidays people spend more, they are a lot more expensive that regular rent

    • No, they will rename themselves as a tiny legal hotel instead where the state cannot do anything.

    • Is that the new euphemism for illegal hotel?

      No. The whole point of the term unregulated is that it is not illegal. Just because something slips through the regulation gaps doesn't make it illegal. Also short-term rentals aren't exactly hotels either, they not only fall into a different category but they typically serve a very different purpose.

      What is needed is laws to be passed to regulate them, then we can have a discussion about the legality. Spain has already done that. Other countries are rapidly following suite.

    • Re:"unregulated short-term rentals" (Score:5, Informative)

      by mjwx ( 966435 ) on Wednesday May 21, 2025 @08:37AM (#65392793)

      Is that the new euphemism for illegal hotel?

      Well short term rentals are not illegal in Spain, just regulated. From the fine summary:

      citing missing license numbers and unclear ownership details.

      So the crime here isn't running an illegal hotel, it's more along the lines of tax evasion and fraud (misrepresentation).

      A lot of Spanish in tourist areas are complaining that people, in particular, corporations are buying up properties as short term lets which is making property unaffordable for locals. In Spain, the government listens to what people want (I know this will seem like an odd concept to Americans).

      Last December I went to Alicante (that's in the Valencia region of Spain for those who can't read a map) and rented a flat (apartment). That would be considered a short term rental, however it was rented though a Spanish hotel company who owned the entire block of flats effectively making it a hotel (but with no lobby, restaurant, et al), the building was classified as such, I paid the tourist taxes as part of the rental and one can presume the company met their other taxation and legal obligations (presume as technically, this is not my responsibility). Short term lets are still not illegal, the problem are people using AirBNB to evade their tax and legal responsibilities. AirBNB has also not been banned, they've just been asked to (ordered by a court to) remove listings that do not comply with regulations.

  • Housing should have never become an investment for (Score:4, Insightful)

    by HnT ( 306652 ) on Tuesday May 20, 2025 @07:32PM (#65391851)

    Housing should have never become an investment for hedge funds and other blood money, and greedy pseudo-investors making others pay for their pseudo-investments thru sites like airbnb. You are just running an illegal hotel and making life so much worse for the locals. Especially talking to the US Americans and especially the NYC and CA crowd, the vastly most over-privileged and overly entitled people on this planet.

    Using airbnb has become pretty much insufferable as a customer any way.

    • Re:Housing should have never become an investment (Score:5, Interesting)

      by postbigbang ( 761081 ) on Tuesday May 20, 2025 @07:50PM (#65391897)

      AirBNB has often been contributing to various campaigns so as to keep the heat away from what they do.

      And there are very legitimate housing shares that are good, and benefit from the stupefying costs of hotels in major urban areas, like NYC and Barcelona. They're a relief valve, but also battle the fact that NIMBY new housing prevention and housing costs in general are overheated.

      Will there be a tourist drop as a result? Barcelona wants that, but smaller areas away from major Spanish cities need that revenue and don't have the same market dynamics for housing.

      AirBnB now has much additional competition, and some of that competition is in compliance with local laws, while others also skirt the laws, taxes, etc.

      It is my humble opinion that corporations should not own residences, and humans need at most, three. Long tradition, however, allows the downside effects of slumlords and REIs, and other forms of residential gluttony to be easily managed, creating housing deserts.

      • It is my humble opinion that corporations should not own residences, and humans need at most, three

        But how will I make money with my parents' trust fund?

        • I hope that's a snarky reply, rather than a real one.

          If not, consider you're creating fiefdom, with all that this implies.

      • They're a relief valve

        From what? The "stupefying cost" in many hotels is the result of an attempt to control demand through the supply restriction side by raising prices. That is the real relief valve - for the people of the city. Air-BNB is bypassing that relief valve driving tourism to levels that is completely unsustainable in many places by keeping it cheap when cost based controls are trying to drive it down.

      • > stupefying costs of hotels in major urban areas, like NYC and Barcelona

        I recently visited Madrid and Barcelona. I've got to say, Barcelona is already "over touristed" - just way too many restaurants with hawkers outside trying to 'tempt' you in for their mediocre food, street hustlers trying to sell you plastic crap etc. There weren't many (any?) cruise ships in when I was there either, so we can't blame them on this occasion.

        If Barcelona is expensive to stay in, then good for them - keep on cranking

        • The difference is pretty simple; Madrid isn't as transient and conveniently transient as Barcelona. Barcelona is a launchpad to other destinations, just like the SF Bay area, or Seattle/PDX, Cologne/Duesseldorf, Marseille, or even Singapore.

          The hub and spoke tourism, coupled to cruise ships, amps demand. AirBnB selections were once really handy and of high value. The denominator sank linearly. AirBnB also spawned competition.

          Worse, add in timeshares, VRBO, online travel sites, cruise ships, and the travel i

    • .. anti-happy, anti-growth, anti-aspiration of the individual. Live in home ownership makes for better, happier communities rather than a transient population renting everything. The only people that will complain will be landlords, it will be very small protest march and they will insist on bringing their Rolls Royce's .. fcuk em, their cultural ancestors are slave owners .

  • About time (Score:4, Interesting)

    by grepzilla ( 10502963 ) on Tuesday May 20, 2025 @07:58PM (#65391915)
    About time. In Australia we've been slowly tightening up the legislation around short-term letting. Over the space of 20 years my apartment building changed from a vibrant community to feeling like a university dorm; after banning AirBnB we're starting to feel like a community again. "Housing has become a major issue in Spain as construction has failed to keep pace with demand since a real estate bubble burst more than 15 years ago." Though in Australia (like Spain) a slow rate of housing construction (and high immigration) is the overarching cause of housing stress.

    • Re:About time (Score:4, Insightful)

      by pjt33 ( 739471 ) on Wednesday May 21, 2025 @03:49AM (#65392461)

      Construction rates and immigration are both factors, but internal migration is also a big one. There are lots of unused homes in Spain: it's just that they're in rural areas which have been left hollowed out as young people move to the cities. But the cities are also where foreign tourists think about visiting, so they're where housing stock is most in demand for AirBnb and similar rentals, and the stress factors reinforce each other.

    • If demand for housing is so over the top strong, what is causing housing construction to lag? Builders refusing to make more money? Is there some government regulation that is interfering with the free market, i.e. stronger demand stimulates more production?
      • The reality is that you can make more money building fewer expensive homes than you can building more affordable ones. If you can build more houses, you build more expensive houses.There is no shortage of expensive houses.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mjwx ( 966435 )

      About time. In Australia we've been slowly tightening up the legislation around short-term letting. Over the space of 20 years my apartment building changed from a vibrant community to feeling like a university dorm; after banning AirBnB we're starting to feel like a community again. "Housing has become a major issue in Spain as construction has failed to keep pace with demand since a real estate bubble burst more than 15 years ago." Though in Australia (like Spain) a slow rate of housing construction (and high immigration) is the overarching cause of housing stress.

      The problem Spain has, unlike Australia is that it's still a relatively cheap place to get property. Doubly so compared to the UK, Germany and the Netherlands. Pre-Brexit it wasn't unusual for a British couple or family to buy a holiday home in Spain, post Brexit it still isn't that difficult... So understandably, Spanish are upset about foreigners buying up property and making it unaffordable.

      As an Australian who moved to the UK, UK property is still cheap compared to Australia (the UK's population is m

  • Letâ(TM)s do some real math (Score:4, Interesting)

    by llZENll ( 545605 ) on Tuesday May 20, 2025 @08:30PM (#65391953)

    Rather than assumingâ¦

    1,200,000 hotel rooms in Spain
    26,000,000 houses in Spain

    Do you honestly think 65,000 houses, of which ONLY 5,800 are going to be banned will make any difference. Itâ(TM)s absolutely absurd to think Airbnb drives any market changes. It represents 5% of the hotel market, 0.25% of the housing market.

    The average price of a house in Spain is $3000. If 0.25% of the houses are taken off the market, and assuming demand stays constant with a price elasticity of demand of -0.5, the average price of the remaining houses would increase by 0.5%, or $15, to $3,015.

    I seriously doubt Airbnb is your problem, I have done similar analysis in other markets and itâ(TM)s the same story, Nee York for example.

    References:
    https://www.spanishpropertyins... [spanishpro...nsight.com].
    https://www.cbre.co.uk/insight... [cbre.co.uk]).

    • House price? My sweet summer child, this is Spain, not America, it isn't about houses, it's about tourism. 5% is a huge portion of the market, especially since those 65000 are not distributed across the country equally but many in tourism hotspots.

      Yes it makes a difference. It has already been shown to make a difference which is why the laws which were trialed in some regions of Spain are being expanded more widely.

      • House price? My sweet summer child, this is Spain, not America, it isn't about houses, it's about tourism. 5% is a huge portion of the market, especially since those 65000 are not distributed across the country equally but many in tourism hotspots.

        Yes it makes a difference. It has already been shown to make a difference which is why the laws which were trialed in some regions of Spain are being expanded more widely.

        I for one would welcome a significant drop in tourism so I can walk around my city and not bump into tourist hogging the street for selfies, driving resturant prices up and having those high end chain stores that cater to tourist shutter and be replaced by locally owned stores they once replaces. tear down the cruise ship ort while your at it and turn it into a seaside park.

  • I bet the government can tell them otherwise.

    It is one tiny company against a country of laws. Good luck.

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