Spain’s left-wing government said Monday it has fined Airbnb more than €64 million ($75 million), citing violations that include posting listings for banned rental properties, as the country grapples with a worsening housing crisis.
The consumer affairs ministry said the fine is final and ordered the U.S.-based holiday rental platform to “correct the violations by deleting illegal content,” News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
According to the ministry, 65,122 Airbnb advertisements breached consumer protection rules. These included listings for properties without a valid licence or with licence numbers that did not match official registers.
The penalty amounts to six times the illegal profit Airbnb earned between the time it was warned about the offending listings and when they were removed, the ministry said.
Spain’s economy has benefited from a tourism boom, but the surge has also intensified concerns over housing shortages and affordability—now a top priority for the minority coalition government.
The country, the world’s second most-visited destination, welcomed a record 94 million foreign tourists in 2024 and is on track to exceed that number this year. However, residents in tourist hotspots such as Barcelona increasingly blame short-term rentals for driving up housing costs and transforming local neighborhoods.
In June, the consumer rights ministry also ordered Booking.com to remove more than 4,000 illegal accommodation listings.
“There are thousands of families living on the edge because of housing, while a few get rich from business models that push people out of their homes,” said Consumer Rights Minister Pablo Bustinduy. He added that no company, regardless of its size or power, is above the law—especially when it comes to housing.
News.Az