The Catalan government detects more than 9,000 illegal Airbnb rental listings in Catalonia.

BarcelonaThe Generalitat (Catalan government) has identified more than 9,000 illegal tourist apartment listings in Catalonia on the Airbnb platform, according to a report released this Friday. The morning of Catalunya Ràdio Sources from Turisme de Catalunya, an agency under the Department of Business and Employment, have confirmed this to ARA. According to the public radio station, of the total number of apartments detected, 6,200 are residential apartments in Barcelona. The Tourism Department explains that this allows them to detect "signs of irregularities," such as apartments that do not have a registration number or that the number does not match the address listed on the website, among others. The same sources confirm that Airbnb has already been asked to remove the affected listings.

It so happens that this Monday the Ministry of Consumption imposed the blocking of more than 65,000 ads on the platform of illegal tourist apartments, some of them in Catalonia. The more than 9,000 located by the Generalitat (Catalan government) were detected in a separate tracking process, but the sources consulted believe there could be a "high degree of coincidence." Even if the listings are removed from sites like Airbnb, those doing business end up finding "ways" to promote the illegal apartments on other, lesser-known websites. It has recently been approved in Barcelona.