Airbnb reports having withdrawn 800 adverts in Spain in order to prevent unauthorised parties. In supporting the fight against Covid, the company says that it is applying zero tolerance to antisocial behaviour. The advertised properties had prompted complaints and had violated policies regarding events and parties held without permission, which are explicitly prohibited in accommodation publicised on Airbnb.
In August, Airbnb began restricting bookings of whole houses in Spain by people whose profile was categorised as a risk, e.g. under-25s living near to the property they wished to book. In the space of a month, over 5,000 reservations were blocked.
The company has introduced a series of tougher measures against antisocial behaviour. This includes a ban on parties, a pilot project of reservation restrictions and the launch of a tool with which neighbours can share their concerns about accommodation that Airbnb can then investigate. Notifications from neighbours have proved effective in removing some adverts.
Airbnb has also introduced measures in Spain for increasing security and trust. In Madrid and Barcelona, a free noise detection system was launched in October in collaboration with Spanish company Roomonitor. This is to promote responsible accommodation and to maintain relationships with neighbours. In Barcelona, hosts have to verify their postal address before uploading their advert to the website and therefore help authorities with inspections.
Mónica Casañas, the director of Airbnb marketing services, says that "the vast majority of hosts and travellers are good neighbours". "We are determined to eliminate the bad ones. Our measures are working. Although travel is restricted in many regions, our priority is to be good partners with communities and help everyone to be safe."