Alex Trelinski
SPAIN’S Consumer Affairs ministry could heavily fine a major tourist apartment rental platform after it failed to remove thousands of adverts promoting illegal holiday accommodation.
The platform has not been named, but it is believed to be Airbnb.
A sanctioning probe has started with an investigation period which will conclude with a final decision as to whether to fine the offender.
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Airbnb faces a base level fine of up to €100,000 but that can rise to reach between four and six times the ‘illegal’ profit that it has made from advertising unsanctioned accommodation.
Holiday rental flats are being marketed in different regions, which could generate, according to the Directorate General for Consumer Affairs, ‘injuries or risks to the interests of consumers and users in a generalised way’.
Holiday accommodation is regulated regionally and a licence has to be obtained for rentals to be permitted.
In this case, the investigations of the Directorate General of Consumer Affairs began in June with a request to various platforms for renting tourist flats to obtain information on the homes advertised in their domains.
The ministry also sent a new cease and desist request to the unnamed platform where it was told to ‘imminently’ remove thousands of advertisements for tourist homes that were not published with a licence number.
After confirming the adverts had not been removed, disciplinary proceedings have now been launched.
This is the third investigation opened by Consumer Affairs related to tourist flats after detecting last October various irregularities in real estate agencies for abusive practices in temporary rentals.
Last week it started another probe into large tourist housing companies that could be engaging in ‘deceptive practices’ and breaches of consumer law.
A ministry statement said: “There are thousands of families who live on the edge in our country because of housing, while a few get rich with business models that expel people from their homes.”
“No company in Spain, no matter how large or small, it can be above the law,” it added.
