Spain’s Housing Ministry on 4 February 2026 instructed online accommodation platforms to remove 86,275 adverts that failed to obtain a registration number under the country’s new single tourist-property register. The move follows December’s €64-million fine against Airbnb and brings the total number of listings taken down since the register launched last July to more than 200,000.
The crackdown is part of Spain’s leadership role in implementing the EU’s 2025 Regulation on Short-Term Accommodation Rentals, aimed at harmonising data-sharing and curbing unlicensed lets. Municipal hotspots such as Madrid, Barcelona and Marbella account for the bulk of the removals, but Málaga province alone hosts seven of the top-20 municipalities with revoked licences.
![Spain Orders Platforms to Delete 80,000 Illegal Short-Term Rental Listings]()
Separately, global-mobility teams juggling travel documentation can streamline that process through VisaHQ’s Spain portal (https://www.visahq.com/spain/), which lets employers and assignees check visa requirements, build application packets and track approvals in real time—helping prevent entry delays that could compound accommodation challenges.
For global-mobility teams the enforcement wave has two immediate consequences. First, employees booking corporate housing via consumer platforms face a higher risk of last-minute cancellations as hosts are delisted. Second, legitimate supply could tighten in major cities, pushing up compliant-apartment rates during peak project deployments.
Best practice now includes insisting on properties that display a valid registration number and working with vetted corporate-housing providers. Companies should also brief travellers that unregistered stays may incur local fines and invalidate travel-insurance coverage. Long-term, the clean-up could stabilise rental markets and reduce neighbour complaints—making Spain’s key business hubs more liveable for assignees.
The crackdown is part of Spain’s leadership role in implementing the EU’s 2025 Regulation on Short-Term Accommodation Rentals, aimed at harmonising data-sharing and curbing unlicensed lets. Municipal hotspots such as Madrid, Barcelona and Marbella account for the bulk of the removals, but Málaga province alone hosts seven of the top-20 municipalities with revoked licences.
Separately, global-mobility teams juggling travel documentation can streamline that process through VisaHQ’s Spain portal (https://www.visahq.com/spain/), which lets employers and assignees check visa requirements, build application packets and track approvals in real time—helping prevent entry delays that could compound accommodation challenges.
For global-mobility teams the enforcement wave has two immediate consequences. First, employees booking corporate housing via consumer platforms face a higher risk of last-minute cancellations as hosts are delisted. Second, legitimate supply could tighten in major cities, pushing up compliant-apartment rates during peak project deployments.
Best practice now includes insisting on properties that display a valid registration number and working with vetted corporate-housing providers. Companies should also brief travellers that unregistered stays may incur local fines and invalidate travel-insurance coverage. Long-term, the clean-up could stabilise rental markets and reduce neighbour complaints—making Spain’s key business hubs more liveable for assignees.
