The Council of Mallorca has fined Airbnb 125,000 euros for failure to remove adverts for tourist apartment lets in Palma.
On Saturday, the Council issued a statement which explained that the fine had been imposed for non-compliance with the law that regulates companies in the information society. The statement refers to the fact that, in November last year, the tourism inspection service demanded that Airbnb and Expedia remove adverts for illegal lets in the city. In Palma, tourist apartment lets are banned.
There were some 200 adverts which breached regulations. Expedia removed ads from its site, but Airbnb did not. The fine could have been as much as 400,000 euros. Airbnb hasn't as yet responded.
A recent report, based on data from AirDNA, "the leading platform for short-term retail intelligence", suggested that there were 466 ads for illegal lets in Palma on Airbnb or Vrbo (Expedia).