Spain Orders Airbnb To Shut Down Listings

The Spanish government said it was ordering Airbnb to remove thousands of listings from its platform after the country’s high court backed its order, in a decision the booking platform said it would appeal.

The government is cracking down on some 65,935 listings that it said violate rules because they lack licences, listed fake licence numbers or did not disclose whether the property was listed by an individual or a corporation.

The crackdown is a response to severe housing shortages in Spain that have led to mass demonstrations against the proliferation of real estate investors and the conversion of housing into tourist accommodation.

Government order

Similar conditions in other countries have led to restrictions on Airbnb in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Edinburgh and New York City.

Airbnb has contested the government’s efforts and said it would continue to appeal.

It said it would be leaving the listings online as its appeal progressed through the courts.

The San Francisco, California-based internet giant said countries should build more homes to ease housing conditions.

Spain’s consumer affairs minister Pablo Bustinduy said authorities would “ensure that no economic interest takes precedence over the right to housing“.

“No more excuses,” Bustinduy said. “Enough with protecting those who make a business out of the right to housing in our country.”

Following an investigation, the government issued a previous order against the nearly 66,000 listings that Airbnb appealed.

The government said the high court backed its order on Monday.

Housing crisis

Bustinduy said the government was ordering Airbnb to remove a first batch of 5,800 ads and would continue to issue orders until all the offending listings had been removed.

Listings in Madrid and Catalonia were included in Monday’s ruling.

Barcelona, Catalonia’s capital, previously said it would become the first European city to end licences for vacation rentals, and would require owners to convert properties to long-term rentals at capped rents by 2028 or sell them.

Airbnb said it believes the ministry doesn’t have the authority to make decisions on short-term rentals and did not provide an evidence-based list of non-compliant accommodation.

Croatia and Italy are amongst other European countries that have acted to place restrictions on short-term holiday rentals.