Airbnb has agreed to no longer promote or advertise properties in Mallorca which do not have the proper paperwork and are therefore deemed to be illegal by the Council of Mallorca. The move represents a victory for the Council which is desperately trying to crackdown on illegal holiday rentals, blamed by hoteliers for causing the so-called "tourism overcrowding" which led to anti-tourism protests.
Airbnb has already withdrawn a large number of properties following action by the Spanish authorities to remove all listings that flagrantly failed to meet the minimum conditions required for accommodation and could therefore be considered substandard housing.
The Council of Mallorca said that the move by Airbnb will allow a new batch of properties that are advertised irregularly to be removed from the platform, which ‘represents a decisive step’ in the war against illegal rentals.
The Council announced at the end of the year that it had identified thousands of illegal advertisements in Mallorca.
More specifically, this initial assessment reveals that one in four properties on the island advertised on marketing platforms do not have the legal permits to do so. In total, 7,978 properties, have been discovered as not having the correct paperwork to be rented out.