Airbnb turns to Spain's villages as cities tighten rules

MADRID (Reuters) -Vacation rental firm Airbnb will invest in the promotion of inland towns across Spain over the next three years to tap into rural tourism, as major cities restrict short-term rentals in the world's second-most visited country after France.

Cities such as Barcelona plan to ban all short-term rentals by 2028, while destinations including the Balearic Islands and Madrid have demanded platforms cut listings under new regulations.

Airbnb said in a statement late on Wednesday it was shifting its local strategy and plans to invest $50 million to promote Spanish villages and expand rental options there.

The Spanish government has also launched a campaign to spotlight rural destinations, aiming to persuade the 94 million international tourists who flocked to beaches and big cities in 2024 to visit other parts of the country. For now, the trend is driven mainly by domestic travellers seeking cheaper inland holidays.

Airbnb said rural destinations in Spain attracted fewer visitors than those in France and Britain, and only half as many as Italy. But the platform expects interest to increase ahead of the 2026 solar eclipse, which will be visible from several rural areas in Spain.

Nearly a third of tourists visiting Spain opt to stay in short-term rentals. The number of homes listed for holiday rentals in May dropped 6% from the previous summer to 1.43 million, after regulations were tightened to ease the housing crisis, data from the National Statistics Institute showed.

(Reporting by Corina Pons; Editing by Kate Mayberry)