"If you report me, you won't get paid, and I'll keep making money": the latest illegal tourist apartment scheme

BarcelonaAt first glance, Serhii K. seems like a normal tenant. He signs the contract in his own name, provides the documentation, and pays the deposit on time. But his intention is not to live in that apartment, which soon appears on the main tourist accommodation portals. He claims that over the last three years he has rented more than a dozen apartments in his name or those of other tenants—Angelina L. and Victor P.—and that he has subsequently deceived the owners, who are facing a nightmare if they want to recover their homes.

none for a year. To reassure them, he also assures them that he will face the neighbors affected by the disturbances caused by the tourist apartments and that he will make it clear that the responsibility lies entirely with him, not the owner's. He even alludes to his origins in an attempt to intimidate: "I'm from Ukraine, no need to say anything more."

However, there are owners who dare to file complaints. They rule out the possibility of more, but for the moment they have no evidence.

can act.

The young Ukrainian's plot also demonstrates that the difficulties in pursuing these networks allow them to feel invulnerable. L'Hospitalet–. Even if there is due diligence to stop them, these processes can be lengthy. Barcelona. The fines are usually 60,000 euros—and a maximum of 600,000 euros—but many of these scammers have no assets or money in Spain and end up not paying the fines. their property.

In Serhii's case, he started renting an apartment on Galileu Street in Barcelona with another person in 2021. Two years later, complaints from neighbors—it's a building with four floors, each landing measuring less than 50 square meters—led to the initiation of disciplinary proceedings. One of the neighbors recounts how the scam escalated this February. The young man sublet the apartment to a woman from Madrid, who paid more than 1,500 euros and, to her surprise, saw that the apartment was actually advertised on Airbnb.

When the Guardia Urbana (City Police) arrived at the building, they found Serhii K. and Angelina L. with a couple of tourists. A month later, the owner of the apartment managed to terminate the contract. No more parties, no more attempts by tourists to break into other apartments, as happened to one neighbor, who saw people trying to get into her house because the tourists were on the wrong floor.

From this apartment, the network expanded. They furnished the empty apartments with the bare essentials and had cleaning ladies prepare each apartment for the new tenants. "One of the cleaning ladies told me she was making at least 6,000 euros a month," explains one affected neighbor.

One of these apartments was on Beates Street in Barcelona. An old building, with a worn staircase, but perfect for attracting tourists who want to enjoy the city center. "He never showed up. It was hell for many months. Drunk people, prostitutes, trying to access the roof terrace, screaming... They left garbage bags in the doorway, and you can't do anything because you're afraid to report it because you don't know who's behind it. What if he comes and beats me up?" one of the neighbors wonders. The same thing happened on Carrer de la Cera, in the middle of Raval. In this case, the City Council has opened a case for the owner to recover the apartment.

In order to rent all these apartments, Serhii and Angelina presented an employment contract. Both with high school studies without having completed any higher education, they posed as web programmers for a company in Figueres, Connect Network System, located in a business complex. Those responsible for the space are unaware of the existence of this company, which in 2021 saw its NIF (Tax Identification Number) withdrawn by the Treasury and its registration closed: a decision that can also be judicial when false activity is suspected. This could lead to an investigation into an alleged crime of document falsification.

Networks that reinvent themselves

The young Ukrainians' scheme is one of the networks Barcelona City Council has identified that are dedicated to converting rental apartments into tourist accommodation. One of the main schemes involves citizens of Russian origin, who held up to 20 rental contracts, and another involves a citizen who works with Swedish citizens of Peruvian origin, accumulating more than one million euros in fines.

Every month, the Barcelona City Council detects around 400 illegal advertisements for tourist apartments: around fifty belong to networks and around one hundred to individuals operating two or three apartments at a time. However, this is not the most common practice used by scammers. "The most common scams are apartments or rooms that don't exist," explains Sergeant Juan Pedro García of the Horta Mossos d'Esquadra police station. When they are caught, they reinvent themselves and, for example, start doing business with rentals of more than 31 days.

The Catalan police force is investigating, in conjunction with Barcelona City Council, what is behind the Ukrainian scheme. For its part, Airbnb, one of the platforms where the apartments were advertised, assures that "the advertisements related" to this scheme "have already been removed" and that "unauthorized subletting is a widespread problem" throughout Spain that would require "more effective" housing regulations.