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.
In the latest stage of a crackdown on illegal lets widely blamed for inflating rental prices across Spain, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs said it had identified 65,122 adverts on Airbnb’s website promoting tourist flats that breached consumer protection laws.
Investigators discovered adverts showing accommodation listings without the required licence under Spanish law.
Some postings were even misleading, telling would-be customers that the property was licenced when in reality it was 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 in three homes in tourist hotspots now short-lets
The rental site has no right to appeal and will be forced to correct the identified breaches by removing all unlawful content published on its platform.
“There are thousands of families living on the brink because of housing, while a few grow rich from business models that force people out of their homes,” said Pablo Bustinduy, the left-wing consumer affairs minister.
“No company in Spain, no matter how large or powerful, can be above the law,” he added.
In July, Pedro Sanchez’s government passed a law ordering the removal of all unregistered holiday rentals from sites including Airbnb and Booking.com.
“Starting in August 2025, Airbnb will send information required by regulation to the Ministry of Housing on a monthly basis, including state and regional registration numbers of listings,” a government statement said.
READ MORE: Airbnb begins removing holiday rentals in Spain without a rental registration number
“The goal is to end fraud in tourist or seasonal rentals that conflict with citizens’ rights to decent housing.”
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.
Many residents in cities across Spain blame the boom in visitor accommodation for pushing up rental prices, forcing many locals to move out to cheaper areas.
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’.
Authorities in Madrid, Malaga and the Canary Islands have vowed to tighten permit rules to counter over-tourism.
Last year, Barcelona’s mayor Jaume Collboni announced that all licences for tourist apartments in the city will be revoked by 2028.
He said the rising cost of property in the city, with rental and purchase prices surging by 70 per cent and 40 per cent respectively in the last decade, had forced him to take drastic action.
“We cannot allow it that most young people who leave home are forced to leave Barcelona,” he said.
“The measures we have taken will not change the situation in one day. These things take time. But with these measures we are reaching a turning point.”
Under rules enforced by Collboni’s administration, anyone renting a room for less than 31 days is considered to be running a tourist business and must hold an authorisation from the city council.
The move has been fiercely criticised by landlords alongside dozens of ordinary people living in the Catalan capital who say they have to rent out a room to be able to survive.
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