Some 800 Airbnb listings of illegal tourist apartments in Barcelona have failed to be removed in the first quarter of this year. Deputy Mayor Laia Bonet is considering measures to get to the bottom of the matter, expressing that the platform is not responding to their requests to delete the listings as it once did, accusing it of being an ‘accomplice’ to illegal activity in the city.
As the situation continues to grow and causes disruption for housing, Bonet has called on all institutions with which the council can come together to stop this activity that seeks to ‘evade and contradict’ regulations. She highlighted that each illegal tourist apartment doubly affects the right to access housing and emphasised the need for all possible tools to combat this situation.
It’s become a frustating process as Airbnb does not respond to requests to remove listings because not only does it breach the collaborative dynamic they had until now, but it encourages the platform to engage in activity that causes disturbances and affects a basic right such as housing, it is claimed.
The council has made the decision to not renew any licenses for exisiting legal tourist apartments to keep things in order as they keep a working eye on 2028. The deputy mayor added that behind these listings are not only individuals but also mafia groups seeking to evade housing regulations in the Catalan capital.
The Mayor of Barcelona, Juame Collboni is set to meet with Airbnb’s CEO, Brian Chesky about Airbnb’s regulations regarding the prohibition of advertising flats without a tourist license, and that the company must comply with these regulations moving forward. Collboni will also confirm the decision not to renew any more tourist licenses in November 2028.
According to Collboni, allocating potential housing for tourist accommodation in cities like Barcelona ‘is a mistake’ and ‘makes no sense whatsoever.’ He added that the platform economy, which has propelled companies like Uber or Airbnb, is ‘one of the worst phenomena’ of recent years. In this regard, the mayor defended his government’s decision not to renew tourist flat licences at the end of 2028 and insisted that these homes will transition to the residential market. Regarding tourists who will no longer stay in these flats, he assured that there is sufficient hotel accommodation available and that there are currently no plans to increase these spaces.