In brief
Spain's government has initiated a significant crackdown on Airbnb listings, demanding the removal of around 66,000 properties after growing protests against over-tourism precede the summer season. Thousands gathered in the Canary Islands, highlighting the rising discontent regarding the impact of tourism on local housing.
The Minister for Social Rights, Pablo Bustinduy, announced that these properties violated housing norms for tourism. This follows a court ruling in Madrid mandating the removal of 4,984 listings in six regions, including popular areas like Madrid and Catalonia. The ministry states that these properties lacked proper licenses or failed to meet the legal renting status.Amidst concerns over rising rental prices, Bustinduy insisted that housing should take precedence over economic interests, emphasizing that the court ruling is a victory for housing rights. He expressed that the trend of tourist rentals is exacerbating the existing housing crisis as rental costs continue to skyrocket without corresponding salary increases.Spain, the second most-visited tourist destination after France, is predicted to attract around 94 million visitors this year. Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has committed to curbing the unregulated expansion of tourism rentals by emphasizing that there are far more Airbnbs than available homes.Local governments are also responding. Barcelona intends to eliminate its short-term rentals by 2028, and agreements with authorities in other regions aim to ensure compliance with rental regulations. In response, Airbnb has announced plans to appeal the decisions and argues that the housing crisis stems from a lack of overall supply, not their platform. As tensions mounted last summer over tourism's adverse effects on housing, activists continue to rally under slogans demanding limits on tourism, with upcoming protests planned across several regions, indicating that civil unrest is likely to persist.
