Spain orders Airbnb to block 65,000 holiday rentals over rule violations

Spain’s government has ordered Airbnb to block more than 65,000 holiday listings on its platform over rule violations.

The Spanish consumer rights ministry said that many of the 65,935 Airbnb listings it had ordered to be withdrawn did not include their licence number or specify whether the owner was an individual or a company.

Others listed numbers did not match official records.

Spain is grappling with a housing affordability crisis that has spurred government action against short-term rental companies.

In recent months, tens of thousands of Spaniards have taken to the streets in protest against rising housing and rental costs, which many say have been driven up by holiday rentals on platforms like Airbnb that have proliferated in cities like Madrid and Barcelona and many other popular tourist destinations.

“Enough already with protecting those who make a business out of the right to housing,” consumer minister Pablo Bustinduy told reporters on Monday.

Airbnb said that it would appeal against the decision.

Through a spokesperson, the company said it did not think the ministry was authorised to rule on short-term rentals — and that it had utilised “an indiscriminate methodology” to include Airbnb rentals that do not need a licence to operate.

Last year, Barcelona announced a plan to close down all of the 10,000 apartments licensed in the city as short-term rentals by 2028 to safeguard the housing supply for full-time residents.

Spain’s government said the first round of rentals affected by the order are located across the country, including in the capital Madrid, in Andalusia and also in Catalonia, whose capital is Barcelona.