Spain’s battle against illegal tourist accommodation continues with the announcement that 53,000 properties are due to be removed from short-term rental websites. Amid a housing and cost-of-living crisis in Spain, authorities expect the move to increase the supply of homes for permanent residents.
In July 2025, the Spanish government launched a national “Single Register of Tourist and Seasonal Accommodation” register intended to verify and list bona fide tourist rental properties.
Rentals that are not compliant with Spanish law and are therefore in breach of the register must be removed from the platforms that advertise them. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez told delegates at a conference on 14 September 2025 that the register had enabled the detection of “thousands of irregularities in many of these homes that are intended to become holiday and tourist rentals.”
As a result, Sánchez said, “what we are going to do is remove 53,000 homes from this register so that they become permanent rentals for young people and families in our country.”
Vamos a exigir a las plataformas la eliminación de 53.000 pisos turísticos por no cumplir con la normativa. Para que pasen a ser alquileres constantes para la gente joven y familias de este país.
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) September 14, 2025
Gobernar para la gente. Eso es lo que hacemos desde el @PSOE. pic.twitter.com/o0TgX85aLo
The worst regional culprit for non-compliant listings is Andalusia, where 16,740 were found, while the worst city is Seville where 2,289 registrations have been revoked.
Spain has been in an ongoing tussle with short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb for years, and in May 2025 ordered the removal of 65,000 properties lacking a proper registration number. Airbnb contested that ruling in court, and lost, this time, it has been quick to point out that most of the offending properties are already not advertised on its pages.
A spokesperson for the accommodation giant 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.”
Describing its own relationship with Spanish authorities as a “proactive commitment to collaboration, quality and a long-term vision of sustainable growth that benefits everyone,” Airbnb went on to boast that the latest crackdown would have “no significant business impact” on its operations and added: “We are setting the ground for a new and resilient business model in Spain.”
En 2025, vivir dignamente en España se ha vuelto un lujo.
— PoderDeX (@PoderDeX) September 22, 2025
Ya no es solo una crisis de precios: es una emergencia social, especialmente en destinos como Ibiza.
¿Por qué la vivienda es el primer problema del país? (Te lo explico) 🧵 pic.twitter.com/EKlanq7iP4
Not everyone agrees that measures brought in by the current left-wing coalition in Spain will be effective at improving the country’s housing issues, however. Spanish economist Daniel Lacalle, and former opposition candidate, responding to Sánchez on X, accused the Prime Minister of bad faith and said: “with a housing law that attacks homeowners and eliminates legal security, supply will continue to worsen.”
But Spain’s Ministry of Housing has held up the Community of Madrid as an example of the policy at work. In the Spanish capital, 83% of rental registration applications now fall into the “temporary rental” category, open to all, leaving only 17% categorised as “tourist rentals.”
