|
Spain fines Airbnb $75 million for
unlicensed tourist rentals
[December 16, 2025]
MADRID (AP) — Spain's government has fined Airbnb 64 million
euros ($75 million) for advertising unlicensed tourist rentals,
officials said Monday.
The move is the latest government action in Spain against short-term
rental companies such as Airbnb and Booking.com as the country grapples
with a housing affordability problem, particularly in city centers.
|
Banners against tourist holiday rentals hang on the facade of a building
in downtown Madrid, Spain, Tuesday, June 3, 2025. The writing in Spanish
reads: "More neighbors, fewer tourists. Tenant power," and "Looking out
for each other as neighbors, stirring things up." (AP Photo/Manu
Fernandez) |
|
The
consumer rights ministry said the rentals didn’t include license
numbers — a requirement in many regions in Spain — or listed
license numbers that didn’t match what authorities had. Other
had incorrect information about hosts, it said.
Airbnb said that it plans to challenge the fine in court. The
company said it was working with Spanish authorities to comply
with a new national registration system for short-term rentals,
and that more than 70,000 listings on the platform had added a
registration number since January.
Spain's leftist government and many Spaniards across the
political spectrum see short-term rental companies as bearing
responsibility for driving up housing costs.
The nation on the Iberian Peninsula is one of the world's most
visited countries and short-term holiday rentals have cut into
many cities' stretched supply.
“There are thousands of families living on the edge because of
the housing crisis, while a few enrich themselves with business
models that evict people from their homes,” Spain’s consumer
rights minister, Pablo Bustinduy, said Monday in a statement.
In May, the consumer rights ministry ordered Airbnb to take down
around 65,000 listings because of rule violations.
In 2024, Spain's anti-trust watchdog fined Booking.com 413
million euros ($448 million), saying the the online travel
company had abused its dominant market position in the country
over the previous five years.
Local authorities in Barcelona have said they plan to phase out
all of the 10,000 apartments licensed in the city as short-term
rentals by 2028 to safeguard the housing supply for residents.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved
|
|
|
