The Ibiza Council, the local government, and Airbnb have signed a landmark agreement to crack down on illegal tourist accommodation listed on the platform.
The agreement was signed by the president of the Eivissa Council, Vicent Marí, and the Spanish director of Airbnb, Jaime Rodriguez de Santiago. The agreement was co-signed by the Ibiza Tourist Accommodation Association, the Ibiza and Formentera Hoteliers Association, the Ibiza Tourism Board and the tourism promotion company Fomento del Turismo, which will participate in the crackdown on illegal short-term rentals.
The crackdown will cover all holiday properties operating illegally, such as tourist apartments, apartment blocks, rooms in apartments, caravans, tents in campsites, boats and, in general, anything rented out for tourist stays.
The agreement stipulates that properties that violate local regulations or Airbnb’s terms of service will be removed without discussion or appeal, to avoid lengthy legal delays. With Airbnb’s assistance, more than 300 listings have already been removed. A similar decision is pending for 100 illegal tourist rentals in Ibiza.
The Ibiza Island Council said it wanted to ensure the environmental, social and economic sustainability of the popular tourist destination by improving quality madly.
The president of the Eivissa Island Council, Vicent Marí, thanked Airbnb for its cooperation and said:
“Airbnb has chosen Ibiza to fight against illegal tourist accommodation. The island is a small but important player in Spain’s tourism industry”.
Jaime Rodríguez de Santiago, Airbnb’s general manager of marketing services, said:
“This joint commitment between the public sector, Airbnb and the representative organisations of the tourism sector underlines the common interest in ensuring that Ibiza remains an excellent and high-quality tourist destination for future generations.”
The local regulations
Under current property legislation in Ibiza, any person wishing to rent out their property or properties on a short-term basis must obtain a tourism licence for each property. Such properties must be located in a designated tourist area, have a valid certificate of occupancy, comply with minimum health and safety requirements and be at least five years old.
In addition to Ibiza, the Balearic and Canary Islands have also taken steps to crack down on illegal tourist rentals, following complaints from local residents about overtourism.
At a national level, Spain’s central government issued a royal decree in October to create a single national register for short-term rental properties.
The law, which came into force on 2 January, requires short-term rental properties to register in a central digital registry and receive a code that they can use to register on platforms such as Airbnb, Vrbo or Booking.com.
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