Oh Dear: Parts Of Spain Are Banning Tourists Using AirBnb
Ireland's number one travel destination is cracking down on tourist accommodation after concerns from local residents.
According to The Local, a Spanish newspaper, Madrid’s City Hall is creating strict new regulations that will outlaw 95% of private holiday rentals in Madrid.
Residents are complaining that the unlicensed apartments and hotels, used by websites such as Airbnb and HomeAway, are increasing rents in the city. Locals have been complaining of anti-social behaviour and the constant noise of suitcases being dragged through the apartment blocks.
The Manuela Carmena coalition introduced the new bill to tackle mass tourism which is pushing locals out of the area. According to José Manuel Calvo, the secretary for sustainable urban planning, the regulations will "preserve residential use of buildings, putting a stop to permanent use (by tourists) and replace it with temporary, thus preventing housing from becoming accommodation exclusively for tourists".
Restrictions will be at their highest in areas such as Malasaña, Chueca, Sol, La Latina and Lavapiés. The new regulations will include separate entrances on tourist flats will be created for accommodations in the central area zones. The new regulations will prohibit tourist flats from being rented out more than 90 days a year.
Entire apartment buildings will not be converted into tourist accommodation unless the building requires a license to do so which could take up to a year.
Madrid won't be the only Spanish hotspot to introduce the new rules. Last week Valencia introduced new regulations and Palma, in Majorca, has banned all unlicensed tourist accommodation and apartments in the city. Last year Barcelona fined Airbnb €600,000 for advertising unlicensed flats. Inspectors are set to keep track of unlicensed properties which means you could risk waking up to more than just a cleaner.
Madrid City Hall stresses that that only 0.54% of residences are entirely occupied by tourists but in central areas, that figure rises to 6%.