A court rejected Airbnb's appeal against the removal of tens of thousands of listings in Spain

Madrid, September 26 - A court in Madrid has rejected an appeal by the Airbnb platform against a government order requiring the company to remove tens of thousands of advertisements for short-term rentals in Spain. The daily El País and the Europa Press agency report this today. In recent months, Spanish authorities have ordered Airbnb to remove around 65,000 advertisements that did not comply with new rules for tourist rentals.

The platform appealed against two of the three decisions of the Spanish Ministry of Consumer Affairs. However, in both cases, the court ruled to reject the appeal. The most recent was this week, when the court ruled on the order to remove around 35,000 advertisements.

The authorities justified their decision by saying that the advertisements did not comply with the new rules for tourist rentals. Most often, they did not have a registration number or the text did not state whether the owner of the property was a natural person or a company.

Airbnb has removed the advertisements and claims that landlords are starting to comply with the new rules. The platform said a few weeks ago that "the vast majority of active listings on Airbnb in Spain already include a registration number."

According to Spain's statistics agency INE, there are 382,000 properties for rent in the country for tourism purposes. The figure, which includes platforms other than Airbnb, is valid as of May this year.

The Spanish government is trying to curb short-term rentals for tourists in various ways. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's cabinet and a large part of the Spanish public see them as an activity that contributes to the rise in property prices and rents. According to surveys, housing affordability is one of the main concerns of Spaniards.

Czech press agency, WT.24