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The European Union has approved a new regulation that forces platforms such as Airbnb or Booking to be more transparent with the data they offer. How does it affect you if you are the owner of an apartment with a tourist license and advertise your tourist home on these web portals?

Renting apartments with a tourist license for short periods has become a common form of accommodation for tourists and travelers visiting Barcelona and the rest of Spain. In fact, these kind of services currently represent almost a quarter of all tourist accommodation in the EU.

To date, some member states had their own rule on the registration of data on apartments offered for rent through platforms such as Airbnb and the information that should appear. However, differences between countries have led the European Parliament to harmonize the situation with a common standard.

This is how it affects your tourist apartment

The new rule establishes a free (or proportionate cost) online registration procedure for owners of short-term rental apartments. At the time of registration, you will receive a unique registration number that you must used to rent your tourist property and that, at the same time, will serve as an identifier for the authorities to verify the information.

Apartment rental platforms must guarantee that the number allows the owners to be identified and that the information they provide is reliable and complete. In addition, as stated in the new rule, random information checks can be carried out and the responsible authorities have the power to suspend the registration number and ask the platforms to eliminate hosts who do not comply with the rules.

Host details

The pact also includes the creation of a digital single office to receive data from the platforms on the host’s activity on a monthly basis (for example, number of nights the accommodation was rented, number of guests, specific address, registration number, URL of the advertisement). With this data, the authorities will monitor that customer registration processes are properly followed and will allow national authorities to apply appropriate policies in the short-term accommodation rental sector.

Tourist apartment rental services have grown significantly with the expansion of online platforms such as Airbnb, Booking, Expedia and TripAdvisor. Brussels maintains that this system will reduce red tape and costs for hosts and platforms, while providing authorities with the data they need to regulate activity.

The new regulation will be applied twenty-four months after the Council and European Parliament formally approve the standard.

At Hermes & Mathew we have a wide catalog of apartments for sale with a tourist license in the best neighborhoods of Barcelona. Do not hesitate to contact us for further information.