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Barcelona hits Airbnb and HomeAway with massive fines

Barcelona city hall said on Thursday that it would fine home rental websites Airbnb and HomeAway €600,000 ($635,000) each for marketing lodgings that lacked permits to host tourists.

Barcelona hits Airbnb and HomeAway with massive fines
Screenshot from an Airbnb YouTube advert

In a statement, it said it had initiated proceedings “that will result in €600,000 fines for each of them for the repeat offence of advertising tourist lodgings online” without authorisation.

In June, Barcelona announced that it would up the maximum fine imposed on home rental sites for promoting ‘illegal’ accommodation.

Under a 2012 regional law, any apartment rented to visitors in Catalonia must be logged in the province's Tourism Registry and have a permit.

In December last year, Barcelona authorities slapped Airbnb and its rival HomeAway with a fine of €30,000, then the maximum, for offering for rent homes which lacked the permit.

This maximum has now been increased to €600,000.

Barcelona, one of Europe's most popular destinations for short-term holidays, has been massively affected by the rise of home-sharing sites.

Their popularity has caused the private vacation rental market to surge and now home stays are more popular than hotels – and many local people are unhappy as a result.

They complain of rising real-estate prices as family accommodation is snapped up for business use, and late-night noise and partying in neighbourhoods favoured by tourists.

A popular 2014 documentary about Barcelona's tense relationship with visitors, “Bye Bye Barcelona”, warned that the city was becoming “a theme park”.

Urban planning councillor Janet Sanz has said the rise in the maximum fine came after the two sites continued to advertise holiday apartments that did not have permits.

“This illegal offer has a very hard impact on our neighbourhoods, it raises rental prices, fuels the underground economy and generates conflicts between neighbours,” she told a news conference.

“The municipal government will introduce changes in the penalties that are applied. We want to reach maximum fines of up to €600,000.”

San Francisco-based Airbnb insists that it provides a useful service – it says it helps visitors find affordable temporary lodging while enabling homeowners to supplement their income.

Since taking office in June 2015, Barcelona mayor Ada Colau, a former anti-eviction activist, has pushed ahead on a pledge to curb a visitor boom that she fears could drive out poor residents and spoil the city's charm.


Ada Colau won the most seats in the municipal election in May 2015 Photo: AFP 

The issue was thrust into the political spotlight after newspapers in August 2014 published photos of three naked Italians frolicking through La Barceloneta, a seaside district with many illegal tourist flats, sparking protests from residents.

In addition to fining firms like Airbnb – which matches people wishing to rent out their homes or rooms to temporary guests – that market lodgings without proper permits, Colau in July 2015 halted the issuing of new hotel licenses for one year.

 

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RENTING

Local authorities in France get power to crack down on Airbnb rentals

Authorities in Paris and other French towns will be able to regulate local businesses who wish to rent property on Airbnb, according to a decree published by the French government. 

Local authorities in France get power to crack down on Airbnb rentals
This illustration picture taken on July 24, 2019 in Paris shows the logo of the US online booking homes application Airbnb on the screen of a tablet. (Photo by Martin BUREAU / AFP)

The news was welcomed by authorities in Paris, who have long battled to keep a check on Airbnb and its impact on the rental market. 

On Sunday, the French government published a decree that allows the City of Paris to subject the renting of local businesses to prior authorisation. 

This decree applies to all types of offices, stores or medical offices who may be turned in holiday rentals. 

It aims to allow towns to limit the growth of rentals on Airbnb, “protect the urban environment and preserve the balance between employment, housing, businesses and services on their territory,” says the decree. 

The news was welcomed by authorities in Paris, which has been witnessing “the multiplication of ground floor business premises being transformed into holiday rentals,” said deputy mayor Ian Brossat, who is in charge of housing, in a press release

This decree which comes into effect on July 1st, “will prevent local businesses from being turned into holiday rentals,” Brossat added on Twitter.

The conditions businesses will have to meet in order to get an authorisation still have to be defined said Brossat, according to Le Figaro. But Paris aims to draft these regulations and get them voted by the end of 2021, so they can come into force at the beginning of 2022. 

Other towns allowed to apply the decree are those who have put into effect “the procedure of a registration number for furnished holiday apartments, owners and, subject to contractual stipulations, tenants of local businesses who wish to rent them as furnished holiday apartments.” 

In recent years, Paris city authorities have made tax registration obligatory for apartment owners and have restricted those renting out their primary residence to a maximum of 120 days a year.

Now if owners want to rent a furnished property for less than a year to holidaymakers, they must apply to local authorities for permission to change the registered use of the space.

They are then required to buy a commercial property of an equivalent or bigger size and convert it into housing as compensation. 

Until then, these onerous and time-consuming tasks did not apply to local businesses who only had to fill out a declaration.  

In February, France’s highest court, the Court of Cassation, ruled that regulations introduced to counter the effects of Airbnb and other short-term rental sites on the local property market were “proportionate” and in line with European law.

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