Gaby Hinsliff’s article (31 August) blames Airbnb for rising rents that squeeze out young locals from cities such as Barcelona.
The open-source Inside Airbnb website shows there are just over 17,000 listings in Barcelona – a city in which there are more than 800,000 homes.
Second, data from the same website shows that 60% of those listings are posted by people renting out their spare rooms.
They are tenants or homeowners who want to earn a bit of extra cash, not money-grabbing landlords looking to get rich quick.
Indeed, the author eventually acknowledges that cheap borrowing; foreign investment, changing demographics and housing shortages can also impact upon prices.
Strong economic growth and a vibrant tech scene add to the city’s attractiveness.
Cracking down on platforms such as Airbnb may seem like the right thing to do.
But the only ones celebrating will be the giants of the hotel industry, which is keen to shut out the competition.
I would have thought your newspaper would stick up for consumers looking for cheaper travel, rather than side with those seeking to limit that choice.
Daniel Dalton MEP
Conservative, West Midlands, and consumer affairs spokesman, European Conservatives and Reformists group in the European parliament
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