Spain demands removal of 8,352 illegal holiday-flat ads from two platforms

Requests to two platforms

The Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and 2030 Agenda, led by Pablo Bustinduy, has asked two large holiday-rental platforms to remove 8,352 listings for holiday flats that break the rules. The ministry has not disclosed the names of either platform. Of the total, 7,199 listings sit on the first platform and 1,153 on the second, according to the ministry's figures announced on Thursday, 12 November 2026.

First platform7,199

Second platform1,153

First platform

7199 listings

Second platform

1153 listings

Data from the article text

Two types of violation

Most of the flagged listings, 7,227, were advertised without any registration number. Another 1,125 displayed a number the ministry says is already extinct, a registration linked to room rentals even though the listings offered entire homes. On the first platform 6,263 listings had no number and 936 had an extinct one, while on the second platform 964 had no number and 189 had an extinct one.

No registration number7,227

Extinct registration number1,125

No registration number

7227 listings

Extinct registration number

1125 listings

Data from the article text

Earlier blocking in Madrid

On 22 October the ministry notified one of the platforms that it had found 4,443 illegal listings in the city of Madrid alone, and that platform went on to block them. The listings used expired seasonal-rental registration numbers and were offered for stays of under 31 days, the legal minimum for that category. The ministry described the advertising as misleading.

Listings still visible abroad

The ministry found that these same Madrid listings remain visible to users connecting from outside Spain. Secretary General Andrés Barragán therefore sent a letter to Madrid City Council asking it to act. The letter notes that the listings also breach the city's rules on tourist housing, and that the council can contact the platform directly under the EU Digital Services Act.

“The listings remain visible from other countries, that is, using an IP address that is not Spanish.”

To support that request, the ministry sent the council detailed information on each of the 4,443 listings. The data includes each listing's unique identifier, its web address, and the date and time of the check, recorded in coordinated universal time (UTC).