The issue involves 65,122 property listings, including houses and apartments, lacking proper licensing to operate as tourist accommodations or displaying false or incorrect license numbers, as revealed by the Ministry of Social Rights and Consumption in a statement.
The fine is being enforced following the rejection of administrative appeals made by Airbnb, the Ministry stated.
The government’s resolution further demands Airbnb to remove all illegal listings still available and to “publicly disclose the imposed fine.”
The Ministry explained that the fine results from a “serious infraction” and recalled that the Superior Court of Justice of Madrid had, in various rulings supporting the government’s requests for the removal of these listings, sided against Airbnb’s appeals.
In the statement released today, the Minister of Consumption, Pablo Bustinduy (from the leftist “Sumar” party, which is part of the coalition government led by the socialists), emphasized that these measures aim to “help tackle the housing crisis in Spain, one of the country’s main issues.”
“No company in Spain, no matter how large or powerful, can be above the law,” said the minister, as cited in the statement.
In May, the Spanish government requested Airbnb to remove 65,935 illegal listings for various reasons, including the lack of a license or registration number or because the numbers provided were incorrect or non-existent.
The illegal listings advertised accommodations in six autonomous regions in Spain: Andalusia, Madrid, Catalonia, the Valencian Community, the Balearic Islands, and the Basque Country, as reported by the Ministry of Social Rights and Consumption.
Spain, attracting 94 million tourists in 2024, ranks as the world’s second largest tourist destination after France. Several Spanish cities have witnessed protests against mass tourism, primarily due to the challenges it poses to local housing accessibility.
Cities like Barcelona have announced halting the issuance of new local accommodation licenses, with existing ones not being renewed upon expiration. The city council estimates that tourist apartments will cease to exist in the city by 2028.
