This was the message for Booking, Homeaway, Airbnb and Apartur in today’s session for platforms offering holiday lets. The working group made a commitment 18 months ago to explore all ways of eliminating the offer of unlicensed flats by 100%.

The zero-tolerance policy for illegal tourist flats responds to the will to safeguard people’s hours of rest, social harmony and the right to housing among local people, as well as tourist operators who do respect the law.

Main breaches by platforms offering holiday lets:

• Municipal access to data.
• Checks on data and licences belonging to flats.
• Permissiveness with flats advertised with inexistent addresses.
• Delays of months in removing ads for illegal flats.
• Ads removed which are then republished.

Balance of the struggle against illegal tourist lets in the last five years:

• More than 16,000 cases opened.
• Orders to close down 6,300 flats: 50% have ceased their activity.
• Nearly 400 flats sealed off.
• 8,000 disciplinary proceedings.

If you believe there is an unlicensed tourist flat in your building you can check it and notify us using the website: https://barcelona.cat/habitatgesturistics/ca