Spain's housing ministry is demanding that accommodation websites remove listings for 2,373 holiday lets in the Balearics. Mandatory registration numbers were applied for but have not been granted because they did not meet legal requirements. Websites must remove adverts for these properties; failure to do so will result in fines.
Since it began operating on January 1, the single registry for temporary accommodation has received a total of 336,497 applications across Spain, of which 264,998 correspond to holiday rentals. Of these, 53,786 have been revoked. The ministry says: "Spain has been the first country in Europe to implement the single registry for temporary accommodation, in collaboration with the Association of Registrars, in order to end fraud in tourist rentals." Registry data have been cross-referenced with data on websites, which have been cooperating in order to identify listings without a registration code.
The ministry adds that the aim has been "to seek to preserve the social function of housing and combat illegal tourist apartments, which force families out of their neighbourhoods".
The highest number of rejections has been in Andalusia - 16,740 - followed by the Canary Islands with 8,698, Catalonia (7,729), Valencia (7,499), Galicia with 2,640, and then the Balearics with 2,373.
In the Balearics the municipality with the highest number of rejections is Ciutadella in Menorca - 299. Sant Josep de Sa Talaia in Ibiza (178) is second, and third is Santa Margalida in Mallorca with 133.