In a crackdown against unregulated tourist accomidation, the Spanish government have removed over 50,000 flats on booking platforms, and are turning them into residental properties instead
According to the Spanish government, 53,000 tourist flats have breached the national Single Register of Tourist and Seasonal Accommodations and will now turned into permanent housing instead.
The illegal tourist flats failed to comply with regulations that have been in place since July 1, and crackdowns on accomodation platforms such as Booking.com and Airbnb have been asked to remove adverts for rule-breaking properties by the Spanish housing ministry.
For Brits who own holiday homes in Spain, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez shared a post on X on Sunday that read: “We will demand that platforms remove 53,000 tourist flats for failing to comply with regulations. So that they can become permanent rentals for young people and families in this country.”
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As of July 2025, the Spanish government introduced the nationwide system for regulating temporary rentals and The Single Rental Register requires all properties rented for short-term stays to be officially listed, ensuring compliance with local regulations. If a property is not on the register, it is not permitted to be advertised for temporary rental.
According to Travel and Tour World, this regulation aims to curb the growing number of unlicensed properties being offered through online platforms, which have become a source of tension in cities where housing shortages are particularly acute. The new law is seen as an effort to restore balance between the tourism industry and the need for affordable housing.
It means if a property is not on the register, it cannot legally be advertised online and Airbnb and the Spanish Ministry of Housing identified that less than 10 per cent of the listings that were turned down by the registry were on Airbnb. The crackdown comes as an aim to boost the housing sector by reclaiming properties previously used as temporary rentals.
The decision comes after months of scrutiny over the booming short-term rental market, which has seen platforms like Airbnb and Booking.com become a staple of Spanish tourism.
With this new move, Spain is effectively reclaiming valuable residential properties, thereby addressing the housing shortage in several cities, including Seville, Barcelona, and Marbella.
An Airbnb spokesperson said: “The vast majority of non-compliant listings are not on Airbnb. So we are calling on other platforms to join Airbnb’s ongoing enforcement effort with local authorities,” according to The Independent. The rental platform added that 70,000 more Airbnb listings have shown a registration number since January and will no longer be allowed to function as short-term rentals.
Airbnb said: “Those listings (that show a registration number) are the ones that our customers love, leaving us with no significant business impact. We are setting the ground for a new and resilient business model in Spain.”
The Independent further reported that from the withdrawn tourist flats, 16,740 were discovered in Andalusia, 8,698 in the Canary Islands and 7,499 in the Valencian Community and for Spanish cities, Seville saw 2,289 cancelled registrations, Marbella 1,802, Barcelona 1,564 and 1,471 in Malaga.
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