More than 65,000 holiday listings are to be blocked on Airbnb’s website as per a recent order by the consumer rights ministry of Spain. The Spanish government is increasing its regulatory measures targeting short-term rental companies.This comes amid a raging housing crisis that has led to Spaniards taking to the streets to protest against ever-increasing rental costs. These rising rental and housing costs are generally attributed to the holiday rentals on platforms such as Airbnb that has recently boomed in tourist destinations like Barcelona and Madrid.The ministry on Monday said that out of the 65,935 listings slated to be blocked on Airbnb, most were quite nebulous in terms of ownership as well as licenses. Consumer minister Pablo Bustinduy said, “Enough already with protecting those who make a business out of the right to housing”. Through a spokesperson, Airbnb said that they will appeal the decision but they did not think the ministry was authorized to rule on short-term rentals.According to Airbnb, they had utilized an “indiscriminate methodology” that did not demand licenses to operate for rentals.The Spanish government had made an announcement last year to close down all 10,000 apartments listed as short-term rentals. They had also informed the company about the noncompliant listings months ago.Madrid’s high court has backed the order as 5800 rental listings on Airbnb are to be removed immediately. Two subsequent orders are to be issued till the goal of 66,000 is reached, according to the Spanish government. The growing housing crisis paints a grim picture as hundreds of homeless people have resorted to sleeping in airports. Eurostat had reported that authorities did not provide any assistance to the people sleeping in airports, nor did they kick them out. The situation has worsened due to a political blame game, which has largely overshadowed the actual underlying issue.
