Barcelona urged Airbnb to cut 969 apartments in the Catalan capital, which the local council considered “abnormal”. 

The government led by Ada Colau said on Tuesday that the residences were “obviously legal”, but some were unlicensed, some were faked, and some advertised rooms provided entire rooms, which were divided into guest houses. 

The committee criticized the site for “ignoring the law” and not complying with established agreements-especially under the current circumstances, the pandemic continues and the local tourism industry is in trouble. 

Barcelona City Councillor Janet Sanz said that Barcelona is also working to identify violations during the pandemic because they do not “trust” AirBnB. Since 2017, local authorities have urged the removal of 11,714 ads on similar platforms, 80% of which are in Airbnb.