Imogen Calderwood
SPAIN is cracking down on the Airbnb website.
The accommodation website, and other similar services that offer accommodation classed as ‘housing for tourist use’, are being slapped with a five-night minimum stay.
Furious hoteliers insist that the sites – through which people can advertise their own properties for tourists to rent – are bad for business.
Catalunya has already threatened the website, stating that the properties listed on it are breaking the law and need to be listed on the local registry.
Madrid has followed suit this week, enforcing a five-night minimum stay rule, which would force tourists visiting the city for the weekend to instead pay for a hotel room.
The average stay in the city is just two nights, so the new restrictions could mean that Airbnb is in real trouble.
According to estimates from Madrid, there are currently between 6,000 and 8,000 homes ‘for tourist use’ in the city, all of which will face the new restrictions.
I cant see how a democratic government can restrict a commercial website, maybe the hotels need to be a bit more creative instead of whinging
They just need to move the website out of the EU and Spain has no jurisdiction over the matter. Of course, they can then find the owners via the website, and this is widely done now by authorities to fi e owners, but even that detail can now be hidden and payments can also be done without hitting Spanish borders, so Spain will soon find they have no influence over such websites.
New York has forced Airbnb to hand over host data. There may be a biz opp here, for subletters, but owners should be aware that they could be tracked if they operate illegally.
The fascist again….. just avoid spain all together. Job done. Plenty of far nicer countries, cheaper too and far safer and cleaner. Have alook… spainis a crime agaisnt free market democracy
This report is not correct. It is nothing to do with hotels being “Furious “. It is all amount the website failing to do what is required by law.
The registration law was introduced to guarantee certain standards of service. The levels of what is required is quite basic and easy to obtain.
I just wish the rest of España would follow this example. I have stayed in a rubbish apartment in Malaga the other week.
Maybe the website will not be fined but we are now all reading about this so it makes for good publicity on the new licensing laws in Cataluña. Just do not rent something illegal or the police may be closing it.
The law is to protect the hotel monopoly. It’s not for the customer’s interest, but for the bottom line of the hotels.
Do you not think it is about ensuring landlords register so that the government can ensure that they pay the required tax on the rental income, in the same way that the hotels do? Thus making it an equal playing surface.
Maybe, I’m just under-thinking it?
Frankly, the hotel industry needs to re-think their business models.
Vacation rentals and home sharing are here to stay.
In this environment, why not convert some of their properties to short-term vacation rentals.
In London during December 2015, we got a great deal at a 4-star property near Westminster that combined traditional hotel rooms with a short-term residences. At the residence for 10 days, my family got a two-bedroom suite with kitchen for 160 euros per night.
On our last 6 visits to Spain, we used most of the major online rental sites (e.g., VRBO, Spain Select, Friendly Rentals). On our most recent trip—to Valencia, Córdoba, and Seville—we used Air Bnb. I think their fee is a bit higher than the others, but the accommodations were fine.
Yes, we stayed in a hotel in Madrid one night each, arriving and departing.
I don’t see a problem with an open marketplace for finding a place to stay. Some people want hotels, some want apartments/houses, and some want resorts.
With Spain’s tourist boom, I think there’s room for all options.
Chris & David, Albuquerque, New Mexico (USA)