Laurence Dollimore
A COUPLE who rake in €1million per year by operating 400 Airbnbs between Madrid and Malaga have sparked a backlash online.
Fran and Marta manage 336 tourist flats in the capital city alone, however only 25 of them appear to have a licence number visible, reports El Confidencial.
And data from Inside Airbnb shows they are not alone, with other ‘super landlords’ having hundreds of homes between them, including ‘Rodrigo’ with 141, ‘Raul’ with 116 and ‘Diego’ with 89.
In Sevilla, a certain ‘Nacho’ manages 161 apartments, while ‘Esther’ has 92 and ‘Juan’ 60.
READ MORE: Crackdown on illegal Airbnb homes in Ibiza
The story is repeated in Malaga, where a ‘Remy’ has 110 while ‘Javier’ has 88.
The reality is that these aren’t people renting out a spare room or their second home, they are businesses dedicated to managing dozens or hundreds of holiday lets on behalf of the real owners.
Fran and Marta’s profile on Airbnb shows them smiling together while holding their baby, making the user believe they are the owners of the 300-plus homes they manage.
In fact, they merely run a business that prepares the properties, taking a 20% cut of the profits in the process.
In total, their company is in charge of 400 flats across Madrid, Malaga and Murcia, turning over more than €1million per year.
However, if they decided to increase the price across all their properties, their influence is so great that it would cause a knock-on effect on all prices.
News of their domination has sparked fury online, with one X user writing: “I would love to openly say what I would do with Fran and Marta, but I would be admitting to a long list of crimes.”
Another threatening message said: “And if we kill Fran and Marta?”
One wrote: “You have to pay €400 for a shared flat on the outskirts, but don’t worry, Fran and Marta have 247 flats so a German can come and drink sangria.”
The outrage comes as Madrid City Council is set to bring in tough new rules on holiday lets, although precise details on the changes have yet to emerge.
Meanwhile, Sevilla has put a pause on new holiday rental licences in a total of 11 neighbourhoods in the city.
