The cheapest is a small room in a shared apartment in Palma for 38 euros per night - a "unique opportunity", according to the advert. A modest room in a shared flat in Palma is around 100 euros a night. Accommodation such as this can't be licensed and the adverts carry no registration numbers to indicate that they are licensed, a requirement under Balearic legislation.
Alternative accommodation includes vans and motorhomes - no air-conditioning or luxuries for over 100 euros a night. In the Sencelles countryside, there is a tent that promises an unforgettable experience in the style of 'One Thousand and One Nights' "Romantic accommodation in the middle of nature with Berber fabrics." Includes electricity and outdoor shower - all for 63 euros a night.
But luxury is certainly available, such as a villa in Llucmajor for 2,833 euros per night for up to ten people.
A court ruling found against the Balearic government, which had fined Airbnb 400,000 euros for advertising unregistered tourist accommodation. The court agreed that Airbnb is an intermediary and was therefore not liable. This ruling did not remove the legal obligation from owners, who can be fined up to 40,000 euros.
In Palma, municipal ordinance prohibits holiday letting in apartments, while Balearic government legislation adapted the national tenancy act in effectively outlawing short stays.
The national hoteliers confederation in Spain wants the Spanish government to adopt legislation that will apply to the whole country. Regulation was delegated to the regions, and this has resulted in different rules. One of the hoteliers' suggestions is that all adverts for tourist accommodation on sites such as Airbnb should show a registration number. But as has been the case in the Balearics, it is very difficult to make such a rule apply to the websites; owners, yes, but not the websites.
Illegal some of these offers may be, but people take the risk in advertising them. The Council of Mallorca now has the responsibility for tourist accommodation (transferred from the Balearic government). Whether the Council has the inspectors is a different matter, but it has facilitated denouncements of illegal holiday letting by the public; the number of these reports is said to be shooting up.
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Zoltan TeglasNo, there's no legal requirement to provide conditioning, although if you list on Airbnb, you can't claim you have it unless you do. You'll be delisted quickly if you lie about it. There is a licence requirement to provide heating if you rent in winter though.
You give them books, and what do they do? Eat the covers 😳
Andy WalkerHasta siempre!
Sorry Morgan, fell asleep after tge first paragraph of the book below. You are clearly old and out of touch. Adios amigo. Marvin, you are dull too.
Morgan WilliamsAbsolutely Morgan, which is why getting the right insurance on your rental property is critical for peace of mind, both as a host and to also reassure guests that you are on top of things and worth every one of their pennies. There’ll always be chancers looking for a too-good-to-be-true deal, and good luck to them. I’m all for free market but it doesn’t mean unregulated or totally scam-ridden rubbish rip-offs. And…has anyone noticed it’s got bloody hot again?
I don't know about Mallorca but in Malaga for example the council insists that holiday flat rentals have air con in every bedroom. This is totally unfair as the same rule is not applied to hotels or hostels. No doubt the hotel lobby is behind this. Is it the same in Mallorca?
Andy WalkerI'm all for disruption, Andy. But apparently, you're not well educated on the history and business of holiday lets, particularly in Mallorca. Back in the good old days, before any government intervention, renting a holiday let in Mallorca was a very risky business (for the holidaymakers tenting them). No controls, no minimum standards of fitness or safety, and the scam rentals were everywhere. The stories of ripoffs and uninhabitable accommodation were rife. Then came Airbnb, which made it even easier. Big platform, lots of traffic, scams galore It didn't take long for Airbnb to clamp down on it, albeit only mildly successfully, but they started penalising and/or delisting any listing that didn't meet basic standards, measured by the guest ratings and reviews, and if it turned out to be a fake, instant removal... It helped a lot (for listings on Airbnb anyway), but it still didn't eliminate it. And substandard lets and scams, were still rife on other platforms. Worse yet, the owners of these holiday lets were taking in the cash, without having to pay tax, and many didn't bother much about cleaning and maintenance. Nor provide modern appliances or other amenities. It was giving Mallorca a very bad reputation. Then a few years back, the government stepped in and made it illegal to rent without a licence. And to obtain that licence, the accommodation must meet base standards of habitability and amenities and so on. AND they hav to pay income tax. They imposed stiff penalties for unlicensed holiday lets. And that pretty much put an end to the slumlord under the radar lettings, and greatly improved the standards one could expect from a holiday let in Mallorca. There was of course, fury and outrage from the British community back then, because they could no longer pay the mortgage with the secret cash they were getting from the flat in Magaluf that they use for 2 weeks per year and rent out for the rest. (on Airbnb) . But many of those just sold up and left. Another consequence of that government intervention was that platforms like Airbnb are now required to demand proof of licencing. At first, Airbnb ignored it, but then was faced with big fines, and now require that proof. Also, if you've ever listed a place on Airbnb, you would know very well that the guest is king, and any disputes between host and guest are extremely likely to be awarded to the guest, even if the guest completely trashed the accommodation with thousands in damages. The host eats it. Don't be fooled by "air cover". It's not a guarantee or insurance of any kind (read the fine print). Most host claims are denied. It's an illusion. To make things worse, Airbnb Hosts are often treated with disdain. They have a "rule" for everything. Airbnb is like a military dictatorship to hosts at times, and can flippantly destroy their hard-built reputation and business they've built over many years, just because some guest filed a false claim. Guests do it for a number of reasons, not the least of which is to get a refund - a cheap or free holiday. There is no shortage of blogs that instruct how to get a free or heavily discounted Airbnb holiday by fabricating atrocities of the host. And it mostly works. So, be careful about wishing for the buccaneering wild wild west. We haven't even completely solved that one yet. Going back to it seems a bit premature.
So much moaning. It's s free market. Hoteliers in Mallorca just want to keep their monopoly and big profits. I am all for the disruptors. Go Air Bnb and all who sail in her.
I have plenty of gripes about Airbnb, but you may not be aware that properties listed without a tourism licence get delisted rather quickly, because Airbnb gets fined big money. They've already paid about a quarter million euros in fines for that. As a result, listings now need to prove they're legal and licensed. Unfortunately, Airbnb sees fit to list the properties while checking on their legality (and oddly, despite it being incredibly quick and easy to verify on the BOIB website, Airbnb can take weeks to do it). But even then, illegal listings won't last long. And the people listing illegal properties can be fined up to 40000€. The risk is huge. So, no. "most of" Airbnb listings aren't "illegal". A few get through the net, but don't last long. Always check the reviews. If the listing is only a few weeks old and has no reviews (especially if it's unusually cheap), then beware. But you can always get your money back from Airbnb if it turns out to be illegitimate.
I have a fully legal holiday rental here and have jumped through every conceivable hoop, and paid much for the privilege of getting my ETV. Even been inspected by the tourist board and of course I register my guests with the Guarda Civil and collect tourist tax. YET, I see countless illegal rooms for let and unlicensed properties on the Airbnb site. Any problems for these tourists and they won’t be covered, likewise for the hosts but that’s their risk, the tourists though are unlikely to know this until something does go wrong. If I’m spotting these illegals then surely a couple of dedicated staff tackling the issue should see them disappear quickly enough! The fines they get will more than pay for a salary or two. So why don’t they? Why have I paid for all the permissions and paperwork to then be undercut by an illegal operator who escapes any consequences?