A second major location in Spain is clamping down hard on short lets, with pledges of fines exceeding £500,000 on illegal listings.

In June the mayor of Barcelona – Spain’s second-largest city and long-time tourist hotspot – announced he would not renew any of the 10,101 tourist licenses granted to short let landlords when they expire in November 2028. 

The properties – mostly advertised on Airbnb and similar platforms – would be available to locals instead. The Mayor claims this would be “equivalent to building 10,000 new homes” and comes in response to rents becoming unaffordable after rising an estimated 70% over the past 10 years.

Now Spain’s Valencia region, one of Europe’s most popular beach destinations, is cracking down on short-letting. Its council says it will impose fines of up to €600,000 (over £510,000) on unlicensed Airbnb-style lettings. 

Currently, Valencia requires short-let landlords to have a Valencian Tourism Registry licence which makes them conform with quality and safety standards and owner details in order to get this licence. 

Local media in Spain report that the average Airbnb or short-term rental accommodation in Valencia has a median occupancy rate of 79%, booked for 288 nights annually, with the most active landlords securing a typical revenue of some €27,000 for the full year. 

The figures come from consultancy Airbtics, which also claims that as of mid-April this year there were 9,128 active Airbnb listings for the Valencia region – but some suggest that when unlicensed properties are taken into account across a range of online platforms, there could be 50,000 units in total.

A Valencia tourism official is quoted in the Financial Times as saying: “We cannot allow any kind of underground economy in accommodation. They escape any type of control. Obviously, they don’t pay taxes. We don’t know whether the owners are fulfilling their obligations to their workers. 

“But the main thing is safety. They don’t comply with the obligation to communicate the identity of clients to the authorities. We don’t know if they follow the rules for fires, emergencies, evacuation plans.”