Posted By Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on December 18, 2024
(Corrects the day of the week in first paragraph)
MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's Consumer Rights Ministry said on Wednesday it had opened an investigation against an unidentified holiday apartment renting platform for failing to delete thousands of rental offers it considered illegally advertised.
The ministry's General Directorate for Consumer Rights had asked in June for details of holiday apartments listed on the platform in Spain and later ordered it to remove thousands of listings that contained what it described as “illegal advertising”, mainly because they lacked official licence numbers issued to tourist properties, a ministry spokesperson said.
"Now, months after the investigation began and after verifying that the ads have not been removed, the General Directorate of Consumer Affairs has initiated a disciplinary procedure against this platform for not providing a solution to the problem detected," the ministry said in a statement.
The platform faces a fine of up to 100,000 euros ($104,940.00) or five to six times the profit made on the practice, a ministry statement said.
The investigation is part of a general crackdown on the tourism rentals business through platforms such as Airbnb or Booking.com in the country. The business is blamed by many for contributing to overtourism and reducing the supply of housing and pushing up prices for tenants.
Airbnb and Booking.com did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
($1 = 0.9529 euros)
(This story has been refiled to fix the day of the week in paragraph 1)
(Reporting by Inti Landauro, editing by Aislinn Laing)