Airbnb reckons that the new Balearic holiday rentals legislation will result in a loss of more than 550 million euros for the Balearic economy and that more than 10,000 "families" could be affected by the moratorium on new licences. Airbnb calculates that these families could themselves lose 100 million euros because of the legislation.
The website accuses the regional government of protecting a model of mass tourism created by hotels. The government has decided to legislate against Balearic families by promoting legislation that only protects the hotels and therefore limits the distribution of benefits generated by tourism to certain areas and to certain large business groups.
Arnau Muñoz, Airbnb's managing director for Spain and Portugal, says that Airbnb is part of the solution for the challenges posed by mass tourism as it helps to build sustainable tourism that benefits local families and communities. He believes that the legislation is complicated and confusing and fails to distinguish between individuals who share their "houses" and professional operators.
He adds that Airbnb will be exploring all legal and political avenues to protect a more democratic and sustainable form of tourism in the Balearics. "Therefore, we will be calling on the national government to take an active role in avoiding the fragmentation of regulation in Spain. Working together we can build sustainable tourism models."