Hundreds of homes have been ordered to be removed from listings in Airbnb and hitting firms with a fine, while threatening more in the future by authorities in Barcelona during a stepped up crackdown against the company and on homes that were allegedly illegally rented out to tourists via homesharing websites such as Airbnb.

Airbnb has rapidly expanded across the globe and often come into conflict with local rules and Barcelona is not the only European city to take a swipe at Airbnb and order punitive actions against it. Berlin imposed a ban on owners renting out entire properties through online booking sites and Paris conducted raids on illegally sub-letted apartments this year.

A fine imposition of 60,000 euros ($66,918) each was announced on both Airbnb and fellow online rental firm, Homeaway, by Barcelona’s town hall on Wednesday. A source from the town hall was quoted in the media as saying that the fine would jump to 600,000 euros for each if the companies continue to refuse to regulate their own users.

It would appeal any fine issued, Airbnb said in a statement.

A plan to stop people from letting out their homes without a license via homesharing websites has been launched by Barcelona’s leftist mayor Ada Colau, who took over last June and froze the granting of new tourist licenses for homes and hotels. Her town hall that said it was investigating over 400 other potential offenders and ordered 256 apartments to be taken down from such platforms on Wednesday.

Recently there were a number of protests by residents against rowdy visitors signaling greater tension among residents who fear an increase in ‘binge tourism’. She has blamed the sharp rise in Airbnb’s popularity for the increasing tensions. Airbnb data on its website shows that in the three years prior to 2015, the number of people using Airbnb in Barcelona has tripled to 900,000.

A free-to-call telephone number allowing locals to expose neighbors that break the rules and the creation of a multi-lingual website that invites people to identify and denounce unlicensed tourist accommodation would be major part of a new plan that was announced by Barcelona authorities.

The town hall source reportedly said that 375 complaints had been made on the website in the last month. The new rules also entail that a license has to be acquired and it needs to be displayed conspicuously on any online advertisement by any owners of any property who wish to rent out property in the city to tourists. Those who fail to jump through the legal hoops would be rooted out by a team of 20 inspectors set up by the town hall.

According to Spanish airport operator AENA, the number of passengers coming through Barcelona’s El Prat airport is up 13 percent in June against last year and the measures come during a record year for tourism in both the Catalan capital and Spain as a whole.

New business models can boost jobs and growth in the European Union, if encouraged and developed responsibly says the new guidance published in June by the European Commission on the sharing economy for member states.

(Adapted from Reuters)

Categories: Economy & Finance, Regulations & Legal