• Setback to the fight against tourist rentals: a ruling allows the rental of rooms through Airbnb

The sanction has been imposed after resolving the appeal filed before the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and affects a total of 65,122 advertisements detected on the platform. According to the Ministry, these publications constitute unfair commercial practices towards consumers and users, by repeatedly failing to comply with the legal obligations in force.

Among the irregularities detected is the publication of advertisements of tourist homes without a license, contrary to the provisions of most of the regional regulations, which require the registration number to be indicated in all advertising. Consumer Affairs has also identified ads with false or incorrect license numbers, as well as others that do not truthfully inform about the legal nature of the hosts, which is a case of misleading advertising.

• Total elimination of illegal ads on Airbnb: Ibiza hoteliers celebrate the measure but downplay its impact

For these facts, the Ministry has imposed on Airbnb a penalty for serious infringement of 64,055,311 euros, an amount that, according to the department itself, is equivalent to six times the illicit profit obtained by the platform as a result of these practices, maintained from the initial warning until the withdrawal of the ads. In this context, the High Court of Justice of Madrid had previously supported, in different orders, the ministerial order to remove the illegal content.

The resolution also includes two accessory sanctions that oblige Airbnb to remove the irregular advertisements and to make public the fine imposed, with the aim of correcting the non-compliances detected and ensuring transparency vis-à-vis consumers.

• Ibiza marks a milestone in Spain by removing from Airbnb 100% of illegal offers

Apart from the main sanction, the Ministry has identified other additional infringements. On the one hand, a breach of the regime for contracts concluded at a distance was detected, due to the omission of essential information on the legal nature of the host, a minor infringement punishable with 10,000 euros. On the other hand, obstruction of the inspection work has been found, as the platform did not comply with the information requests during the investigation of the case, which has given rise to another minor fine of 10,000 euros.

Likewise, Consumer Affairs has sanctioned with 55,000 euros a serious infringement for non-compliance with the orders and provisional measures issued by the investigating body during the processing of the procedure, aimed at avoiding risks or damages to consumers.

At the same time, the Ministry has reminded that it has sanctioning proceedings open against several real estate agencies for possible abusive practices in the management of rentals, within the framework of its actions in the area of housing.

All these measures are part of the strategy of the department headed by Bustinduy to tackle the housing crisis, one of the main social problems in Spain. The minister pointed out that «there are thousands of families living on the edge because of housing, while a few get rich with business models that expel people from their homes«, and stressed that «no company in Spain, no matter how big or powerful it may be, can be above the law«.

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• Fight against intrusiveness in Ibiza: owners who do not cooperate will be sanctioned

• Parties, illegal tourist rentals and pirate cabs: how much money did Ibiza collect in the fight against intrusiveness in 2024?

• The ecotax will finance the fight against intrusiveness in Ibiza with a 22 million project

La entrada Airbnb fined: 64 million for advertising tourist homes without a license se publicó primero en La Voz De Ibiza.

• Ibiza, a tourist paradise: from which countries do most people come to the island?

«Hi! You’ve come to the right place to find an adorable and reliable road companion for the simplest of trips, without dramas or exorbitant gas bills! Belinda may look like a 5-seater car to the untrained eye, but it secretly transforms into a sofa, a dining area, a cooking station, a storage space and a bed!», begins the message posted on the Airbnb platform.

A van to sleep in

«Here we offer you the camper van Citroën Berlingo «Belinda». In good condition and with all the necessary elements and utensils so you can stay on the road for a few days and see the island from a different perspective! You can sleep in a comfortable bed for two and watch the sunrise/sunset from your «room» inside the vehicle», they add.

The owners point out that it is «perfect» for beach days due to its ease of parking anywhere because of its size and, on the other hand, that it performs well in mountainous excursions.

Price and requirements for renting «Belinda».

The vehicle has a large double bed of 1.30 x 1.83 gas camping, portable refrigerator, portable shower, tables and chairs, kitchen utensils, sheets and comforters (depending on the season), umbrella, games and «some surprises», according to the publication.

The minimum rental period is 3 nights, with a price of $216 (of which $28.58 corresponds to the fee charged by the platform) excluding taxes. A little more than 200 euros at the exchange rate. But there are two requirements to be able to rent the car: leave a deposit of 200 euros and be over 25 years old.

The publication has 116 comments, all of them positive, highlighting the vehicle and the attention of its owner Lukas. With 4.94 stars out of 5, the platform defines it as «one of the most popular accommodations on Airbnb based on ratings, reviews and reliability».

Beyond the happiness of the tourists, the truth is that this «housing» meets almost none of the requirements established by the recent Royal Decree 1312/2024 of the Government for tourist housing to obtain a registration number:

• Cadastral reference and the exact address of the property.
• It will be detailed, if you want to rent the whole house or by rooms.
• Number of people who will be able to use the dwelling.
• Complies with the requirements established in the Autonomous Community where the home is located.

The Decree in question came into force on January 2, 2025, but the provisions will start to apply as from July 1, 2025, with the aim of granting owners, platforms and administrations a period of technological and functional adaptation. Finally, this type of rental also does not comply with the requirements established by the regulations of the autonomous community, such as the current certificate of occupancy.

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• They bought a villa in Ibiza for 2.3 million euros, renovated it and now it’s worth more than 10

La entrada Unusual Airbnb: rents a Citroën Berlingo for more than 200 euros to sleep in Ibiza and it is a success se publicó primero en La Voz De Ibiza.

• Fine of half a million euros for two apartments in Ibiza marketed on Airbnb

«These hasty restrictions could result in high costs for families and harm the development of rural areas and small local businesses,» said Jaime Rodriguez de Santiago, Airbnb’s general manager for Spain and Portugal in the aforementioned report. The platform also highlighted that «78% of the spending generated by tourist rentals directly benefits small businesses, restaurants and local transportation» and that «only 0.3% of the increase in housing prices in the last five years corresponds to tourist housing»..

The report further reveals that listings dedicated exclusively to tourism activity available on Airbnb in major cities such as Lisbon, Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam do not exceed 0.5% of the total housing supply in those cities.

The report also highlights that, if all tourist housing on platforms such as Airbnb were returned to the residential market, rental prices in cities such as Madrid and Barcelona would barely decrease between 0.3% and 0.4%, which calls into question the effectiveness of these measures to solve the housing crisis.

Pedro Sanchez’s statements and Airbnb’s response

Pedro Sánchez recently announced a package of measures on housing, declaring that in Spain «there is a surplus of Airbnb and a lack of housing». This statement, added to proposals to limit tourist rentals, has provoked a response from the digital platform.

Airbnb argues that it has become a scapegoat for the country’s housing problems. «Banning tourist apartments means handing over all pricing power to hotels and will make it difficult for families to travel,» stated Rodríguez de Santiago. In addition, the company criticizes that the current regulations do not differentiate between the occasional use of housing by families and intensive business activities.

Airbnb’s regulatory proposal

Instead of generalized restrictions, Airbnb proposes a regulatory model based on four principles:

1. Differentiate between business activities and occasional lodging.
2. Create a single, harmonized and free registration system, in accordance with EU regulations.
3. Apply evidence-based, data-driven, proportionate and non-discriminatory rules.
4. Adapt regulations to the needs of rural and urban areas, promoting the dispersion of tourism.

«We are not the main problem, but we can be part of the solution,» concluded Rodriguez de Santiago, underlining Airbnb’s willingness to work with authorities on regulations that balance economic and social interests with Spain’s major housing challenges.

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• Live like Prince: The house from the movie «Purple Rain» can be rented through Airbnb

• Airbnb platform plagued by illegal rentals this summer

La entrada Airbnb warns that restrictions on tourist rentals threaten 2% of GDP and 400,000 jobs se publicó primero en La Voz De Ibiza.

• Tourist and temporary rental registration: how to obtain the identification number that will become mandatory

During the summer of 2024, the Local Police of Ibiza, in collaboration with the staff of Urbanism, detected two properties located on the same street that were advertised through the Airbnb platform without obviously having the mandatory tourist license. Not surprisingly, this practice is prohibited in Ibiza in multi-family buildings. The inspections concluded that it was a use contrary to urban planning, which has resulted in significant financial penalties.

Statement by Mayor Triguero

The mayor of Ibiza, Rafael Triguero, stressed the importance of combating this illegal practice: «Houses without a tourist license are for living, not for speculation. We will continue to act firmly against non-compliance with the rules to ensure access to decent housing». Triguero recalled that the change of use of housing without a license is punishable by fines that can range from 50 to 100% of the value of the property.

Other noteworthy cases

Among the proceedings opened, a sanction of €857,836.11 stands out, announced during the debate on the state of the municipality last October, derived from a complaint filed through the Green Line. The infraction was found when it was verified that a foreign person had booked a property through Airbnb in September. Another sanctioning file, valued at 453,416.77 euros, was also initiated thanks to a citizen complaint. The Local Police verified that people of Spanish and Italian nationalities had rented an apartment in the city center without the corresponding license.

Commitment to housing

The actions of the Ibiza City Council respond to the growing problem of access to housing, aggravated by speculation and the illegal use of properties for tourist rental.

• Tourist rental in Ibiza: discover the changes in the LAU and the new government decree

La entrada Triguero’s hard hand: fine of half a million euros for two apartments in Ibiza marketed on Airbnb se publicó primero en La Voz De Ibiza.

• The municipality of Ibiza with the most expensive rents in Spain

According to the decree, «the expansive growth of short-term vacation rentals is removing homes from the market and causing an increase in prices, and may have a negative impact on the habitability of urban and tourist centers». In addition, it points out that «the lack of information related to the leases that are being constituted has led to the foreseeable existence of a relevant percentage of leases in a situation of fraud of law.» In this context, the decree seeks to regularize and control the market with instruments such as the Single Registry of Leases and the Digital Single Window for Leases.

Single Registry and One-Stop Shop: the pillars of the decree

The Royal Decree introduces two key tools to regulate the market:

1. Single Registry of Leases:
   • Each rental unit must be registered and have a unique number, without which it cannot be offered on digital platforms.
   • This registration will be managed through the Land Registry or the Registry of Movable Property.
   • «Through the registration procedure, a unique registration number will be obtained […] without which its offer cannot be carried out on online short term rental platforms.»
2. One-Stop Digital Leasing Window:
   • Platform managed by the Ministry of Housing, in charge of coordinating data transmission between platforms and authorities.
   • It will allow consultation and verification of lease information, in addition to facilitating the issuance of administrative resolutions.
   • «The Digital One-Stop-Shop […] will enable the electronic transmission of data between online short-term rental platforms and the competent authorities.»

Obligations for platforms such as Airbnb

The decree also imposes new responsibilities on short term rental platforms:

• Validate the registration number of each unit before publication.
• Perform periodic and random checks to ensure the veracity of the data.
• Transmit monthly activity data to the One-Stop Shop, including address, ad URL and registration number.
• Eliminate irregular advertisements within 48 hours after receiving administrative notifications.

Impact on hosts and local communities

The Royal Decree poses significant challenges for both hosts and local communities:

• For hosts: The accumulation of registrations could disincentivize small landlords, who already face other administrative barriers.
• For the platforms: The new obligations imply higher operational costs, from verification systems to data transmissions.
• In the market: Although regulation could reduce irregular supply, it could also limit the flexibility of this business model.

Airbnb’s response: «It falls short».

Airbnb has taken a critical stance on Royal Decree 1312/2024. The company claims that this «falls short» of its purpose of harmonizing registration obligations for hosts and ensuring greater transparency in the sector. In a statement issued yesterday, Airbnb acknowledged the efforts of the Ministry of Housing during the public consultation process to address concerns raised by the platform, especially in relation to the implementation of Regulation (EU) 2024/1028. However, it believes that the regulation does not establish a «single point of entry» for the registration of hosts, as proposed by the European framework. Instead, the decree encourages an «accumulation of different registers» at the national, autonomic and municipal levels, which, according to Airbnb, will complicate the administrative tasks of hosts who want to share their homes on short-term rental platforms. Despite this criticism, Airbnb has indicated that it will continue to collaborate with the government in the technical development of the decree. Its intention is to ensure that it prioritizes «the economic well-being of hosts, the preservation of local communities and responsible tourism practices.» This process will be key before May 2026, by which time, according to European Union regulations, all short-term rental housing will be required to have a mandatory registration number.

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• The single rent registry will come into force on January 2 and will be effective as of July

• How much money did Ibiza raise in the fight against intrusiveness in 2024?

La entrada BOE publishes the decree approving the new single registry of short-term rentals: how it works and what Airbnb says se publicó primero en La Voz De Ibiza.

Penalty history: more than 850,000 euros in recent fines

This case is in addition to a previous complaint for a serious urban infraction that led to a proposed fine of more than 850,000 euros in October. Also derived from a Green Line complaint, this fine affected a tourist apartment rented to a foreigner through Airbnb. In parallel, last June, the Consell de Ibiza, in collaboration with the Local Police, processed sanctions against six illegal homeowners. The fines, which amounted to 224,000 euros, were applied after finding irregularities such as the lack of responsible declaration or prior communication for tourist activity.

La entrada Tough hand against illegal tourist rentals in Ibiza from Urbanism: the City Council processes a fine of nearly half a million euros se publicó primero en La Voz De Ibiza.