Spain ‘s Ministry of Consumer Rights has ordered the Airbnb platform to remove nearly 66,000 short term rental listings, deeming them to be in breach of the law. The decision, which is based on a series of violations related to lack of licensing details and incomplete identification of owners, is the Spanish government’s largest intervention against short-term rentals to date.
According to a statement from the Ministry, thousands of these advertisements did not include the required licence number or did not specify whether the owner was a natural person or a company, while in other cases the details of the listings did not match the official records of the authorities.
The deletion order follows months of dialogue between the Spanish government and Airbnb. The ministry claimed it had notified the company of the violations as early as the previous months, with the first order being for the immediate removal of 5,800 listings. Two more orders followed, bringing the total number of deletions to 66,000.
The decision comes with the explicit support of the Madrid High Court and is part of a wider framework of state intervention to protect housing, at a time when Spain is facing an acute housing accessibility crisis.
Airbnb reaction: ‘Arbitrary and opaque methodology’
Airbnb, for its part, says it will challenge the decision in court, questioning the ministry’s authority to intervene in matters of short-term rentals. The company calls it “an indiscriminate and inaccurate methodology”, noting that the lists of listings asked to be removed include properties that do not require a licence to rent.
A company spokesperson told international agencies that Airbnb is working with several Spanish cities to resolve the housing issue and that it is willing to continue dialogue with authorities to promote regulatory solutions.
