Spain to launch digital platform to fight illegal tourist accommodation

The Spanish government is in the final stages of developing a digital platform to detect illegal tourist accommodation.  

This platform will serve as a single, integrated online registry of all available tourist accommodation, helping autonomous communities to identify unlicensed tourist rentals.  

The registry will be built using data provided by platforms which will be required to provide this information. 

According to Spain's minister of industry and tourism, Jordi Hereu, this online registry will be available "shortly". 

"The register will allow regional authorities to identify those apartments that are illegally advertised as tourist accommodation without complying with the law," he added.

"We want to move forward to better organize the tourism offer," the minister said during the 121st session of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in Barcelona. 

Hereu argued that it is "necessary" to change the current model to ensure that it "respects the urban environment."

"We need to make progress in the sustainability of the [tourism] model to ensure its growth potential," he said. 

At the same event, Barcelona mayor Jaume Collboni highlighted New York's recent regulations on tourist apartments.  

"They made a courageous decision limiting the use of residential buildings for tourism," he explained. "It sets an important precedent."   

While Collboni defended tourism as a "source of wealth and prosperity," the mayor acknowledged that "growth cannot be infinite, because our cities are not infinite."