Mallorca strikes back: 65,000 illegal Airbnb ads targeted!

Mallorca strikes back: 65,000 illegal Airbnb ads targeted!

In Mallorca, holiday apartments and fincas continue to be popular accommodations for travelers. But the booming holiday rental sector has its downsides, which are becoming increasingly noticeable. The Spanish government has announced that it will remove over 65,000 unauthorized Airbnb listings in a bid to curb illegal vacation rentals. This affects around 7,000 advertisements in Mallorca alone. The island council welcomes this measure as it makes a significant contribution to the fight against shadow rentals and is intended to help reduce pressure on the regular housing market, which is already suffering from an acute housing shortage. The West reports that around a third of the holiday apartments offered in the Balearic Islands do not have a valid license.

This situation has led to local authorities taking their own measures to combat illegal advertisements. This not only includes apartments, but also illegal offers such as tents, boats and makeshift huts have been identified. The Spanish government has issued three instructions to Airbnb's European headquarters in Ireland in recent months to remove the affected ads. According to the Ministry of Consumer Protection in Madrid, these have been classified as illegal because many do not comply with legal requirements or simply do not provide license numbers. Mallorca newspaper points out that the measure could potentially make it more difficult for German holidaymakers to find cheap holiday accommodation.

The impact on the housing market

Holiday apartment rentals have become rampant in core tourist areas, which in many cases leads to an imbalance between supply and demand. Demand often exceeds supply in metropolitan areas, leading to an increase in rental prices. This development has led to demonstrations for affordable housing across the country, which most recently took place in April.

The Ministry of Consumer Protection has emphasized that the ads being deleted violate general regulatory requirements. Entire apartments are affected, but rooms in the landlord's apartment are not included in the deletion. Many of the problematic listings lack required license numbers or registration with local authorities, making monitoring vacation rentals even more difficult.

Litigation with Airbnb

Airbnb itself challenged the deletion order and applied for interim legal protection against the removal of 5,800 ads, but this was rejected by the Higher Administrative Court in Madrid. While the authority remains confident that Airbnb will comply, the company has not yet responded to inquiries.

In summary, it can be said that the Spanish government's measures represent a decisive step in the fight against illegal holiday rentals and aim to relieve pressure on the housing market in Mallorca. However, it remains to be seen what the implementation and reactions of the affected landlords and platforms will be.