Nearly 20% of illegal Airbnb listings fined in Spain are in the Canary Islands
Almost 20% of the illegal Airbnb listings penalised by Spain’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs are located in the Canary Islands, according to official figures released this week. The Ministry has imposed a firm fine of €64 million on Airbnb for advertising holiday rental properties without valid licences or using false registration numbers.
Of the more than 65,000 irregular listings detected nationwide, 12,700 were based in the Canary Islands, meaning one in every five affected properties was in the archipelago.
Thousands of illegal listings in the islands
Ministry data shows that Airbnb advertised 59,229 properties across Spain without registration numbers, with 12,486 of these in the Canary Islands. In addition, 5,769 listings used fake registration numbers, including 242 in the islands.
In total, the Consumer Affairs Office identified 65,122 listings that breached consumer protection regulations, with the Canary Islands accounting for 19.54% of all irregularities detected.
Fine is now final
The sanction is now final after all administrative appeals were exhausted. The appeal lodged with the Minister of Consumer Affairs, Pablo Bustinduy, has been resolved, confirming the penalty.
Alongside the financial fine, Airbnb has also been ordered to:
- Remove all illegal listings identified by the investigation
- Publicise the sanction imposed by the authorities
Serious breaches of consumer law
The Ministry classifies the offences as serious, including:
- Advertising holiday accommodation without a valid licence
- Using registration numbers that do not match the advertised properties
The fine represents six times the illegal profit allegedly obtained by Airbnb during the period the listings remained active after the Ministry had already warned the company.
Consumer Affairs also sanctioned the platform for failing to meet distance-selling obligations, such as not clearly stating the legal status of hosts. Additional breaches include obstructing the investigation by refusing to provide information and failing to comply with temporary measures imposed during the process.
Consumer groups welcome the decision
Consumer association FACUA welcomed the ruling, describing it as the second-largest consumer fine ever imposed in Spain, surpassed only by the €108 million fine issued to Ryanair over hand luggage charges. FACUA has called on regional governments to take stronger action against illegal holiday rentals.
Another consumer group, Asufin, also backed the decision, stating that platforms like Airbnb cannot act merely as intermediaries while profiting from listings without taking responsibility for their legality.
The ruling is expected to have significant implications for the holiday rental market in the Canary Islands, a region where short-term lets play a major role in the tourism economy.
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