Spain targets 8,318 holiday let adverts accused of exploiting temporary rental rules

Spain’s Consumer Affairs Ministry has demanded the removal of 8,318 property adverts after finding that holiday accommodation was being marketed as temporary housing while remaining available for bookings of fewer than 31 days.

The ministry says the listings could amount to misleading advertising because they do not meet the requirements for temporary tenancies introduced under the government’s latest housing decree. Two platforms have received formal notices requiring them to remove the adverts or block access to them. Neither company has been named.

The Madrid region accounts for 6,772 of the listings, approximately 81% of the total. Of those, 6,523 are in Madrid city, making the capital the main focus of the findings. These are the figures published in the ministry’s statement. 

Holiday lets advertised as temporary housing

The action concerns the distinction between accommodation for tourists and housing rented to someone with a specific temporary need.

Under Royal Decree-law 29/2026, approved on 6 October, temporary housing contracts must have a documented reason for the tenant’s stay. The legislation sets a minimum duration of 31 days and generally limits these arrangements to 12 months. It also requires the landlord to substantiate the circumstances justifying the temporary tenancy.

The decree took effect on 8 October although it is still awaiting parliamentary ratification. ALSO READ: Sánchez revives housing measures with €10bn loan plan as Spain heads towards election.

Consumer Affairs Minister Pablo Bustinduy (main image) argues that temporary rental contracts have become a means of avoiding protections applying to people renting their main home.

‘Temporary rentals are the arrangement most often used to get around the rules governing ordinary residential rentals. Thousands upon thousands of homes have disappeared from the residential market, while others [tourist properties] have appeared, transforming cities into veritable theme parks,’ he said.

Since the introduction of Spain’s housing law in 2023, some landlords have used temporary contracts to sidestep rules covering rents, tenancy lengths and annual increases.

Classifying tourist accommodation as temporary housing can also allow operators to avoid requirements associated with holiday lets, including specific licences and restrictions imposed by apartment owners’ associations.

There are tax implications, too. The October decree provides for 10% VAT from 1 December on qualifying furnished holiday accommodation rented to the same guest for no more than 30 nights, with an exception where the accommodation is the landlord’s usual home. 

Bustinduy challenges Madrid’s mayor

The concentration of listings in Madrid prompted Bustinduy to accuse the city’s mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida of the right-wing People’s Party (PP), of failing to act against illegal tourist accommodation.

‘How is it possible to allow 80% of the adverts that do not comply with the law to be in this country’s capital?’ he asked. ‘Mr Mayor of Madrid, fulfil your obligations, enforce the law, close the illegal tourist flats.’

Bustinduy maintained that the ministry had already supplied the council with information identifying thousands of properties requiring action.

‘More than a year ago, we sent a list of over 15,000 illegal properties so that, exercising his powers, he would close them. He responded with word games and did nothing; and we have had to change the law to act in Mr Almeida’s place,’ he said. ALSO READ: Consumer affairs ministry identifies over 15,000 illegal tourist flats in Madrid.

Platforms warned of possible penalties

The ministry considers that advertising tourist accommodation under a temporary rental label while accepting shorter bookings could breach consumer protection legislation.

It has notified both platforms through procedures established under the EU’s Digital Services Act. According to the ministry, once companies have been informed of potentially unlawful listings, they can become directly responsible for keeping that content accessible. Failure to remove or block the adverts could therefore lead to formal enforcement proceedings and possible sanctions. ALSO READ: Spanish government targets Airbnb for listing ‘apartments without tourist licences’.

At Friday’s announcement, Bustinduy said neither platform had yet responded. However, he expressed confidence in their ¡cooperation’ and said he expected the listings to disappear ‘as quickly as possible’. ALSO READ: Spanish government to limit short-term rentals and tourist flats to address housing crisis.

The announcement concerns a demand to remove the adverts; it does not establish that all 8,318 have already been taken down. ALSO READ: Barcelona wants to revoke all city’s 10,101 tourist apartment licences by Nov 2028.

Wider enforcement across the rental market

The latest intervention extends a series of Consumer Affairs investigations into property advertising, holiday accommodation and rental intermediaries.

Earlier action against Airbnb resulted in the removal of more than 65,000 listings. ALSO READ: Airbnb reaches agreement with Spanish government to remove irregular listings.

The ministry subsequently fined the company €64 million over adverts for tourist accommodation that failed to comply with licensing requirements. ALSO READ: Airbnb faces €64m fine in Spain for thousands of rental ads lacking rental licence.

Booking.com also removed more than 4,000 non-compliant listings following an official request. ALSO READ: Spanish government makes Booking.com remove over 4,000 tourist rental ads.

Other measures have included investigations into property portals advertising rents above the legal limits in designated housing pressure areas, as well as the removal of more than 100 tourist accommodation offers in occupied Palestinian territories. ALSO READ: Spanish government targets firms tied to occupied Palestinian territories.

Bustinduy presented the latest demands as part of the same effort to tackle practices that undermine access to housing.

‘What we say, we do,’ he said. ‘No economic interest is above the right to housing in this country, and thanks to the public mobilisation that led to the approval of the decrees, we now have more tools to put an end to fraud.’ ALSO READ: Spain’s housing crisis prompts general strike on 11 November, ahead of election.