Spain orders Airbnb to block 65,000 holiday rentals over rule violations
19 May 2025, 12:36 | Updated: 19 May 2025, 13:52
Spain’s government has ordered Airbnb to block more than 65,000 holiday listings on its platform for having violated rules.
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Spain's government said on Monday that it had ordered Airbnb to block more than 65,000 holiday listings on its platform for not following the rules, with property owners failing to include their licence number.
The consumer rights ministry said that many of the 65,935 Airbnb listings it had ordered to be withdrawn were also guilty of not specifying whether the owner was an individual or a company.
Others listed numbers that didn't match what authorities had.
Spain is grappling with a housing affordability crisis that has spurred government action against short-term rental companies.
In April, hundreds of thousands of Spaniards marched against the housing crisis, fuelled by a tourism boom.
In January, the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, announced a plan to ban Brits from buying homes in fresh blow to expats.
The news came days after Sánchez laid out plans to slap a 100 per cent property tax on non-EU homeowners in the country.
An Airbnb spokesperson said: “Airbnb will continue to appeal all decisions that affect this case, which is at odds with Spanish and European rules.
The spokesperson added that the Ministry of Consumer affairs "is not competent in enforcing short-term rental regulations" has "failed" to provide an evidence-based list of non compliance accommodations, "using an indiscriminate methodology".
The statement continued: "They have also deliberately ignored the resolution by the Spanish Supreme Court that has made clear not all supply on Airbnb needs a registration number."
