Spain’s Ministry of Social Rights and Consumer Affairs said on Wednesday that Airbnb has now withdrawn the 65,000 listings for holiday rentals that the ministry said back in May had violated rules, while the government has now identified nearly 55,000 further listings (54,728) also deemed to be illegal.
The removal of the 65,000 illegal listings comes after the multinational challenged the government’s order in court on multiple occasions – only for the judiciary to uphold the ministry’s actions.
Airbnb had argued that the ministry lacked the authority to make rulings on short-term rentals and had failed to provide an evidence-based list of non-compliant accommodation.
The ministry, however, said that the listings failed to include the official accommodation licence number, as required under legislation in force since 1 July. Others did not specify whether the owner was an individual or a corporation, as required by Spanish regulations.
The Spanish government, as well as city councils and regional authorities, have launched a crackdown on tourism rentals via sites such as Airbnb and Booking.com. Many Spaniards say such listings are creating excess tourism and driving up housing costs. ALSO READ: Spanish government makes Booking.com remove over 4,000 tourist rental ads.
The ministry, headed by Pablo Bustinduy, said in a statement that its pursuit of the crackdown reaffirmed ‘its commitment to enforcing the law and guaranteeing the constitutional right to housing over the profits of large multinational corporations’.
Regarding the additional 55,000 listings that the ministry claims now also violate the rules, it said it will forward this information ‘in accordance with current legal procedures so that these listings can either be removed or corrected by the platform’.
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