300 owners of tourist flats Barcelona denounce sublet their homes

Barcelona estimates that 10% of sanctioning illegal Information files floors worth of this fraud

The municipality threat to Airbnb with another penalty of 600,000 euros if not removed ads without license from your web

PATRICIA CASTÁN / BARCELONA

MONDAY, JUNE 26, 2017 - 20:31  IST

It is an easy, fast business that can generate considerable income before being detected and lets get away even being detected. For rent a floor - length by the conventional route and then goes to tourist use for days from a platform like Airbnb,  which accepts ads homes without tourist license. So widespread is this double fraud (without permission and without permission from subletting) that the city has already identified  316 cases in Barcelona,  between approximately 3,000 disciplinary proceedings opened since last July, when the plan against illegal implanted in the sector.

That share the session is between  10% and 15% of  that fluctuates in time zones and represents only the cases of illegal floors previously detected. That is, when the city council checks the  unauthorized tourist use  and notifies a penalty or cease and desist order to the owner. That's when those headlines have replicated 316 allegations demonstrating a contract rented his house to a tenant stably, without knowing that this would turn the home into a business. Many owners of flats not discover until a neighbor put them on alert or a good day you get a penalty.

The municipality does not know how many cases are Airbnb, but assumes that most, since this platform is the only one that has not reached an agreement to remove illegal ads (no registration number of the Generalitat). Both the Councilor for Town Planning, Janet Sanz, such as tourism, Agustí Colom, have lamented Monday that the booking platform not backtrack on their practices and reoffend in the BREACH.

INCREASED FINES

In the disagreement between the two sides, Sanz has warned that this week will be formalized  penalty of 600,000 euros  has been handled in recent months for repeated floors offering unlicensed. Airbnb has replicated to put a resource, but does not rectify its behavior in Barcelona will be dealt with same amount. "Enough someone to act with impunity and not think of the law , " he cried. The mayor, Ada Colau, has also lambasted the platform: "Airbnb is crossing all legal limits." The council also intends to work with the Government to  increase the fines  of very serious recidivism, above that amount.

From the platform, they have insisted that it is the council who must first distinguish between regulation two-thirds of hosts who share their own home and those who do it professionally.

The practice of renting an apartment and instead of using it as habitual residence give tourist use fraudulent has been done since the tap tourist licenses in 2015 was closed, even when there were fewer resources for inspection detection was much more difficult . The owners are those who receive a first disciplinary proceedings, but once found they did a conventional lease, the record is filed and record moves to sanction the operator of the illegal tourist floor, they explained.

However, in cases of foreigners without another residence known in Barcelona like the  singular case of a exdirectivo Airbnb  explained Monday by the Town Hall- is difficult to notify the sanction and even get to collect it . Colom added that this practice harms the image of Barcelona, because after unmask frauds see some tourists canceled their reservations on the detected floors, as happened in the  cases of Barceloneta .

ORGANIZED NETWORKS

Councilwoman believes that  Airbnb is "giving coverage to networks"  that perform this fraud, not impose filters when a tourist offer floor and not take action once the owner tells them that the house is re - let without consent. It ensures that the local police are also investigating whether this practice in an organized manner as it seems, given that the same operators involved in Barceloneta behind "three or four cases" is performed.

The updated balance municipal action disciplinary records is 5,909, of which 3,211 are sanctioning, since January 2016 have also issued  2,189 orders end to unlicensed floors,  respected by 628 so far. And they have sealed 127. But most are concentrated performances since last July.