Spain’s latest move shows how seriously it is taking its overtourism rental ban

Sign up to Simon Calder’s free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calder’s Travel email Get Simon Calder’s Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. A Consumer Rights Ministry’s department had since the summer ordered the platform to remove thousands of listings deemed “illegal advertising” without licences for tourism use, a ministry spokesperson said. open image in gallery People display placards during a demonstration for a change in the tourism model in the Canary Islands Spain’s toughest move so far in the curb came from Barcelona’s mayor Jaume Collboni when in June he ordered a total ban on tourism rentals by 2028. “The only winner from Barcelona’s war on short-term rentals is the hotel industry,” Airbnb’s head of Policy for Spain and Portugal, Sara Rodriguez, wrote in a letter to Mayor Jaume Collboni. Airbnb argued in its letter that none of Barcelona’s earlier measures that had imposed strict limits on new tourist accommodation licences in the city centre since 2014 proved to be effective.