Madrid’s High Court refuses to suspend a €64 million fine on Airbnb by Spain’s Consumer Ministry for illegal holiday rentals and misleading ads; the platform must pay while it appeals.
Airbnb has suffered another setback in the Spanish market. On Monday, the High Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) rejected the company’s request for interim measures to suspend payment of the nearly €64 million fine imposed on it by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs in December 2025. As a result of this decision, the platform must pay the penalty while the court case continues.
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The ruling does not go into the substance of the case, but simply rejects the company’s request to halt payment until a final judgment is issued. Airbnb, however, still intends to challenge the fine, arguing that it runs counter to the Spanish and European legal framework.
The fine was issued for a number of infringements linked to the publication of tourist accommodation adverts on its platform. Chief among them were the listing of unlicensed properties, the use of false or incorrect registration numbers and the lack of accurate information about hosts, practices that the authorities describe as misleading for consumers.
According to Spain’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs, the amount of the fine is equivalent to six times the illegal profit made through these practices. The irregularities also affected tens of thousands of adverts that breached the regional regulations in force on tourist accommodation.
The government has sought to tighten control over short-term tourist rentals in order to tackle the housing crisis affecting Spain and other major European markets. Other countries, including France, Italy and Portugal, have also toughened their rules in response to the impact on access to housing.
