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Date Published: 20/03/2023

ARCHIVED - Balearic Islands try to regulate illegal tourist lets

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The government wants to fine holiday websites that advertise unregistered rentals in Spain

<span style='color:#780948'>ARCHIVED</span> - Balearic Islands try to regulate illegal tourist lets

In a further bid to revolutionise the tourism market, delegates from the Balearic Islands’ government will meet with representatives in Brussels this week to demand higher penalties for websites advertising illegal holiday lets.

Tourist apartments, houses and villas are already regulated on the islands but there’s nothing stopping unregistered property owners from advertising online. These illegal lets have bumped up the number of holiday rentals to an unmanageable level, which is why the local government has set a cap on the number of foreign visitors allowed each summer.

Now, the Balearic Minister of Tourism and the Minister of Finance and Foreign Relations hope to put “pressure” on the EU to pass a new regulation that means websites can only advertise holiday lets that have an official licence number. Those who flout the rules and post illegal rentals would be fined.

The issue has long been a bugbear of the Balearic Islands government, who tried to sue Airbnb for 300,000 euros back in 2021 for posting ads for unregistered properties. The case was thrown out by the Supreme Court.

"For someone to advertise something that a state says is illegal seems a bit difficult to justify," the Minister said, adding that the tourism authorities should be able to sanction these platforms if they see fit.

The proposed regulation is expected to be met with strong opposition though, since the market is practically controlled by just four large multinationals that have "a lot of strength in Brussels" and "have done a lot of lobbying," according to the government.

The move is unlikely to be popular with holidaymakers either, especially after Mallorca’s Tourism Minister unleashed a storm last year at the World Trade Market in London when she implied that the island was not interested in welcoming budget tourists from the UK.

“We don’t care if they go elsewhere to Greece and Turkey,” she said at the time.

In other news: Price of gas canisters in Spain drops by 5 per cent

Image:Pexels

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