The Spanish government announced on Sunday the removal of 53,000 illegal tourist apartments from the Unified Register of Tourist and Seasonal Rentals, with the aim of making them available on the long-term rental market.
The decision was announced on Sunday by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez at an event in Malaga, stating that thousands of irregularities have been identified in homes that were intended for tourist rentals. Consequently, it was decided to remove 53,000 homes from this register, in order to make them available as long-term rentals for young people and families in the country.
The Spanish Ministry of Housing has already asked short-term rental platforms, such as Airbnb and Booking.com, to “take down” the relevant advertisements.
Airbnb, in a statement, described the move as “a new chapter for Airbnb in Spain, guided by a proactive commitment to collaboration, quality and a long-term vision of sustainable growth that benefits everyone.”
According to the company, which has been in several disputes with the Spanish government, around 70,000 additional listings now display an official registration number, meaning the vast majority of accommodations now comply with this requirement.
However, in collaboration with the Spanish Ministry of Housing, the platform found that just under 10% of the revoked listings were still related to active listings. These listings will be deleted immediately, according to the company.
Regions with the most properties being taken out of short-term rental
Andalusia tops the list of regions with the most properties being taken out of short-term rental, with 16,740 properties being removed from the register. This is followed by the Canary Islands (8,698), Catalonia (7,729), Valencia (7,499), Galicia (2,640), the Balearic Islands (2,373), Madrid (1,531) and Murcia (1,402).
At the city level, Seville records the highest concentration of accommodation units being withdrawn (2,289), while significant numbers are also recorded in Marbella (1,802), Barcelona (1,564), Malaga (1,471), Madrid (1,257) and Benalmadena (926).
The Ministry of Housing highlights a particularity in the Community of Madrid, where 83% of applications for registration in the registry correspond to short-term rentals, while only 17% have been submitted as tourist rentals.
