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The municipality of Barcelona imposed fines amounting to 600,000 EUR to platforms Airbnb and HomeAway. The local authorities blamed the sites that advertise properties that are rented to tourists without permission. Last year, Barcelona has tightened the requirements for short-term rentals because of complaints traditional hospitality industry by introducing registration for owners who rent their dwellings short of the tourists. Apart from 2012, the city operates a special law that requires all owners of homes that are rented to tourists to obtain special permission.

In June, the municipality in the city and introduced fines for sites that advertise homes rented illegally. The penalty for both platforms is maximum possible according to the municipality legislation.

This is the second fine for both sites last year. In December 2015 they paid 30,000 EUR for advertising homes that do not have permission to be rented to tourists.

Barcelona is one of the most popular destinations for tourists, so sites for shared housing became extremely popular there in recent years. This angered not only hoteliers, but also local residents who at one point were pushed out of the rental market because of rising prices and the increasing number of homes rented to tourists for the greater profit for the owners.

Since being elected for Mayor of Barcelona and took office in June 2015, Ada Colau, who was a former activist against forced evictions of borrowers from their homes, began fighting with the influx of tourists, which affects the housing market. In July 2015, Ada Colau stopped issuing permits for new hotels.

Barcelona is not the only city that is trying to rein in the growth of the shared economy in the face of Airbnb. The restrictions on short-term rentals introduced and Berlin, although the court to mitigate, New York, Los Angeles and others.