Spain's consumer rights ministry said on Monday it had ordered Airbnb to withdraw more than 65,000 listings for holiday rentals from its platform, saying they violated existing rules. The decision follows several government measures against a business blamed by authorities for exacerbating housing shortages and pushing up real estate prices.
In recent months, the ministry has sent Airbnb up to three resolutions notifying it of the more than 65,000 illegal ads for holiday homes that were detected on its platform and urged the company to block this advertising.
Airbnb appealed the Consumer Affairs action in court and now an order of the High Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) has ruled on one of the resolutions and supports the ministry's initiative and urges the multinational to remove from its platform a first batch of 5,800 ads that do not comply with the legislation.
The ads on which the TSJM has ruled in the order affect the advertising of holiday homes in the regions of the Balearic Islands, Andalusia, Madrid, Catalonia, Valencia and the Basque Country.