Until recently, short-term rentals through platforms such as Airbnb were seen as a symbol of a modern, flexible economy that allows property owners to supplement their income and offers tourists cheaper and more authentic accommodation than hotels. Today, in many European cities, Airbnb has become synonymous with the housing crisis, the depopulation of city centres, nuisance parties in apartment blocks and uncontrolled capital flows that push permanent residents beyond the borders of their own neighbourhoods.
Barcelona is one of the pioneers and most radical cities in the fight against uncontrolled short-term rentals. Just a few years ago, the city was a symbol of tourism excess, and the number of Airbnb listings was growing at an alarming rate, pushing local residents out of the city centre. Today, Barcelona has introduced one of the strictest regulatory regimes in Europe. The city has announced the elimination of all approximately 10,000 short-term rental licences by November 2028. This means that within just a few years, a huge number of listings will disappear from the platforms, and owners who fail to comply with the new regulations will have to face the consequences. Already, more than 10,000 listings have been removed from the platforms, and renting without registration carries fines of up to 60,000 euros.
Barcelona’s mayor, Jaume Collboni, made it clear that the city will not back down against the global platform. After a meeting with Airbnb representatives that failed to reach an agreement, Collboni stated that no one is above the law. Barcelona’s policy is based on the assumption that apartments in the city centre should primarily serve residents, not tourists. The authorities argue that the excessive concentration of Airbnb listings has contributed to rising rental and property prices, as well as the disappearance of local shops and services in favour of businesses geared exclusively towards tourists. The city has introduced restricted growth zones where new registrations for short-term rentals are frozen. This means that even if someone wants to start a business on Airbnb, in many neighbourhoods there is simply no possibility to do so.
Barcelona leads the way. Complete elimination of licences by 2028
Italian cities, which have been struggling with overtourism for years, are also tightening their stance on short-term rentals. Florence, which already banned the creation of new tourist rentals in the UNESCO-listed historic centre in 2023, has decided to go a step further. In 2026, the city announced plans to extend the restrictions to an area much larger than the current centre – approximately 16 square kilometres, covering more than 103,000 apartments, compared to the previous 35,600. The new regulations do not mean the immediate elimination of existing listings, but they block the creation of new tourist rental properties for a period of two years. The proposal is to be adopted on an urgent basis to limit the risk of mass registration of new properties before the regulations come into force.
Florence’s mayor, Sara Funaro, clearly defined the aim of these actions: continuing the policy of protecting residential life and ensuring a sustainable balance between tourism and the daily life of residents. As she added, data shows that the phenomenon of short-term tourist rentals in the city has grown very significantly.
The moratorium protecting existing rentals is to remain in force until 31 May 2028. After this date, Florence intends to begin limiting their number, while declaring a more preferential approach to small local owners renting out one property as a supplement to their income than to operators acting in a business formula. This is an important distinction designed to protect ordinary residents from professional landlords.
Florence extends ban beyond historic centre
France has limited short-term rentals to a maximum of 120 days per year for properties constituting a main residence since 2020. In Paris, where the problem of overtourism is particularly visible, the number of active listings has already fallen by 22.9 percent due to new regulations. The city also uses additional tools, such as the requirement to obtain a permit for change of use for properties that are not a main residence, which makes professional renting on platforms much more difficult.
Berlin and Dublin are also among the cities that are systematically tightening regulations. In the German capital, the key element of regulation is planning and permit requirements designed to prevent entire buildings from being converted into illegal hotels. Dublin, in turn, is introducing mechanisms aimed at protecting the local housing market from excessive commercialisation. In Lisbon, which has also joined the ranks of cities pursuing the most radical policies, the authorities have introduced regulations on the concentration of listings. In areas where the number of short-term rental properties exceeds 10 percent of permanent housing, new registrations are completely blocked, and in transitional zones, where the indicator is between 5 and 10 percent, stricter criteria apply. This solution allows for flexible adaptation of policy to local conditions.
Paris, Berlin and Dublin. Old rules, new enforcement
Since 20 May 2026, Regulation 2024/1028 on the collection and sharing of data on short-term accommodation rental services has been in force throughout the European Union. The new rules do not create a new licensing system but harmonise the data infrastructure through which member states enforce existing regulations. From this date, platforms such as Airbnb, Booking.com, Vrbo and others operate under the same obligations regarding the collection, validation and reporting of data in all 27 member states. The regulation operates on an opt-in/opt-out basis – member states are not obliged to apply it, but if they introduce a registration system, they must do so in accordance with this regulation.
A key element of the new system is the registration number. Every short-term rental property must be registered according to the appropriate national procedure and obtain a unique number. Platforms are required to display this number publicly on the listing page, carry out random checks of its validity in the national register, and suspend or remove listings that do not meet the requirements.
This means that an unregistered or incorrectly registered listing is systematically removed at the platform level, not just at the level of enforcement by municipal authorities. This is a fundamental change designed to end the era of anonymity and the grey market in short-term rentals. According to European Commission data, short-term rentals currently account for approximately one quarter of total tourist accommodation supply, and in 2025, 951.6 million overnight stays were booked through platforms.
New EU regulation
Poland is also at the centre of the debate on short-term rental regulations. In April 2026, the Ministry of Sport and Tourism presented a draft regulation that would introduce mandatory registration of all properties offering short-term rentals in the municipal register and in the Central Register of Tourist Accommodation Facilities. After registration, the owner will receive an individual number that must be displayed on booking platforms. The identification number is intended to make it easier to determine who is responsible for a property in the event of complaints from neighbours, while also increasing tourist safety. The draft also provides for high administrative fines for operating without registration and new powers for municipalities, including the possibility of designating zones restricting short-term rentals.
At the same time, Polish local authorities are not waiting for central regulations. Gdańsk already maintains a local register, and failure to register may be treated as a violation of the hotel services law. This means that short-term rentals are beginning to be treated similarly to hotel-like activities, especially where the scale of the phenomenon affects the daily lives of residents. Meanwhile, the government bill that is to come into force has been met with criticism from local governments, which fear that the proposed solutions do not go far enough in protecting the housing market from excessive commercialisation.
Poland at a crossroads
In just a few years, the short-term rental market in Europe has gone from almost complete freedom to a dense network of regulations that in many places make it a difficult, costly and high-risk activity. More and more cities, from Barcelona through Florence to Gdańsk, are introducing or planning to introduce restrictions aimed at protecting the housing market from excessive commercialisation. The new EU regulation, which came into force on 20 May 2026, ends the era of anonymity and the grey market, forcing registration and transparency on platforms and owners. Property owners who just a few years ago could freely rent out their properties to tourists now have to contend with limits on the number of days, registration obligations, financial penalties and the prospect of a complete ban in some neighbourhoods.
Photo: Airbnb
