The recently updated study indicates that the capital already exceeds 16,000 tourist apartments. Data from Inside Airbnb shows 16,015 active listings in the past year, of which 11,844 are for entire homes and 14,806 are for short-term stays (less than 30 days).
The National Statistics Institute (INE) recognizes slightly over 12,600 tourist-use homes with more than 38,000 tourist beds. However, the FRAVM counts only 1,131 apartments with licenses, leading to the conclusion that 91% of these homes operate irregularly due to lacking the required enabling title.
Quique Villalobos, head of Urbanism at FRAVM, criticized this high rate of irregularity, comparing it to what any other economic activity would suffer. In the last three years, tourist-use housing listings have increased by 17.7%.
The concentration of tourist apartments is particularly high in the Centro district, with 7,128 active listings (44.5% of the city's total), equivalent to 48.71 accommodations per thousand inhabitants. This means tourist homes absorb 10.36% of the district's main housing stock and 40.57% of its non-main homes.
“"The building entrance is like Chamartín station at rush hour, full of people and suitcases"
A district resident described the situation as a source of noise, garbage, and a sense of insecurity, calling for buildings inhabited by residents and not by "hidden hotels."
The expansion of tourist apartments is no longer limited to the historic center, extending to well-connected peripheral neighborhoods such as Tetuán (1,031 listings), Salamanca (998), and Arganzuela (826).
The report also highlights the sector's professionalization, with 75.2% of the supply managed by individuals or entities with multiple listings. A core group of 5,528 "professionalized residential" supply listings has been identified.
FRAVM warns of a potential shift from tourist rentals to seasonal rentals, camouflaging them to evade regulations like the "Plan Reside," which the federation deems a "failure." They demand the application of the principle of "primacy of reality" and require documentary justification for seasonal rentals.
“"What has happened is a migration, a camouflage into seasonal rentals, which, as there is no regulation that truly differentiates it from tourist rentals, legally represents a loophole through which all those homes that cannot or do not want to comply with the Plan Reside are escaping"
The federation believes that the regulatory measures adopted so far are insufficient if not accompanied by effective inspections and closures.
