Catalan's eh? Sooner they get independence the better, so they can sit there and wonder why they haven't got any money, determined as they are to demolish anything culturally associated with Spain and denying anything new that threatens their existing businesses like Airbnb or Uber. Foreigners should pass on the whole Catalan/Valenciano thing and move on to real Spain i.e. Murcia and Andalucia.

LOL....Watch the place crumble.. I love Spanistan

Hugo - those guests who come to your finca are your 'friends'. What you wish to collect from them in the form of a 'contribution' is entirely a matter between you and them. Don't encourge snooping controlling politicians and mis-placed do-gooders the opportunity to destroy your welcoming nature. They will be continuing license or not! The recent case of the leader of one of the main parties subletting an apartment to tourists proves this.

My take on this whole debate is one of bewilderment. All this effort on killing the one industry on Mallorca that is keeping this island afloat.I live in a finca and occasionally i rent out some rooms in a BnB type setting (not via airbnb). I wonder what my exposure is with all these new rules and regulations.

Does anybody here know if the LAU has been changed to include a minimum rental period ?

Crazy. Nobody will pay a 40.000 euro fine of course. They'll only recover it after a long court battle, and if they win any appeal made to the EC. Then they'll have to get a court order to embargo the property, which would be trashed with untold unpaid bills; and if it has a mortgage against it ?Any sane politician would simply charge a £500 a year registration fee and regulate it with a licence number....

Theo, it has long been possible to license villas, and there are very many which are licensed as holiday rentals. They are not affected by the legislation. But if a villa is advertised and doesn't have a licence number, then the same rules would apply, so websites and owners could be subject to fines.

Juan A Day: the answer is no. It's a very common surname here and in Catalunya.

Villas are not mentioned in the article... Are they any different?

Does Snr Barcelo have any connection to the Barcelo Hotel Family? Not that that would mean he had an interest in blocking airbnb's progress or anything.