The meeting was also attended by representatives of the four island councils, and competent bodies in the field of tourism inspection.

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A pilot project in the Balearic Islands to fight against illegal tourist rentals

The Government of the Balearic Islands and Booking.com will launch a pilot collaboration project to fight against illegal tourist rentals in the community. This has been one of the conclusions of the meeting held between both institutions in the framework of the Fitur tourism fair.

In this way, the Government, through the Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sports, and Booking.com ahead of the European regulation to be approved shortly, which provides, among other actions, the obligation to enable on the websites of the platforms a portal or password for the competent administrations.

The meeting was also attended by representatives of the four island councils, competent bodies in the field of tourism inspection, who stressed the importance of public-private collaboration in the fight against illegal supply.

Booking.com’s proposal, in line with future regulation, aims to increase transparency in the area of short-term accommodation rentals and help public authorities regulate this increasingly important part of the tourism sector. While short-term accommodation bookings offer advantages for both hosts and tourists, they can be a source of concern for some local communities who, for example, face a shortage of affordable housing.

President Prohens commented that “illegal supply is unfair competition for both hotel accommodation and regulated holiday accommodation; it is detrimental to our quality as a destination and to the image that those who visit us have of us, and only contributes to bringing an uncontrolled surplus of tourists.”

“At Booking.com we take our responsibility against illegal content very seriously. As a digital service provider, we are committed to removing content that does not comply with local regulations, such as ads for illegal short-term rentals,” says Pilar Crespo, head of Booking.com in Spain and Portugal.

The Balearic Islands thus become a pioneer in the implementation of this type of project, which is expected to be extended to other platforms shortly.