The Ministry of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and the 2030 Agenda has stepped up pressure on tourist rental platforms that market services in Palestinian territories occupied by Israel. In a new requirement to be made public this Thursday, the department led by Pablo Bustinduy has demanded that five major multinational companies in the sector remove 141 listings offering vacation stays in settlements considered illegal under international law. This is the second request issued by the ministry aimed at eradicating from platforms operating in Spain any offer that contributes to normalizing the occupation in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The focus is especially on one of these platforms which, despite being notified at the end of last year, ignored the order and continues to keep the listings active. The ministry avoids naming the companies to not violate their rights.
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The administrative pressure comes at a time of intense tension on the ground. Various international observers have long been denouncing that Israel has come to control nearly 1,000 square kilometers in the region since 2023. In this context, Consumer Affairs has identified more than 200 postal codes corresponding to illegal Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory. The list was officially published this week in the Official State Gazette (BOE), with the aim that companies cannot claim ignorance about the location of these vacation listings.
Consumer Affairs has not set a specific deadline for the removal of the listings nor provided the names of the affected companies. And although it does not rule out economic sanctions if the multinationals persist in refusing to censor this content, it has also not specified the amount of fines that could be imposed in case of non-compliance. However, they have insisted that they will deploy all necessary resources to ensure that no company present in the Spanish market contributes to consolidating an occupation that the Government openly labels as illegal.
The ministry’s demand is based on Article 4 of the Royal Decree-Law approved in September last year, a regulation designed to adopt urgent measures against genocide in Gaza and in support of the Palestinian population. Under this legal umbrella, any promotion of goods or services originating from Israeli settlements is classified as “illegal advertising.” The royal decree, published on September 23 in the Official State Gazette, also includes a total arms embargo on Israel, the prohibition of importing products originating from these territories, and the refusal to authorize the transit through Spain of fuels with possible military use in Israel.
With this legal backing, Consumer Affairs’ argument is that, although these platforms are tech giants headquartered in third countries, their commercial activity in Spain is subject to national regulations when targeting the local consumer. Since the ministry launched this offensive in 2025, around 300 tourist accommodations violating the regulations have been detected.
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The origin of the government monitoring dates back to late 2025, when the Spanish Government, supported by reports from the UN Special Rapporteur, Francesca Albanese, began investigating how various international companies gained economic advantages from the occupation. In its report, the United Nations identified 158 companies with “concerning human rights activities” in the occupied territories, of which 138 were Israeli companies and 20 foreign, spread across 10 countries. Among the companies highlighted were major global tourist platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.
Subsequently, the Consumer Affairs investigation led to the December requirement that targeted seven companies. Two months later, six of those multinationals complied with the order and deleted more than a hundred listings located in Israeli colonization areas from their systems. However, the seventh company has kept 30 accommodations operational in occupied population centers. This company has now been re-notified by the ministry with a demand to cease, adding it to the new proceedings.
The country has been at the forefront in the European Union in sanctions, blockades, and toughening rhetoric against Benjamin Netanyahu’s attacks in Gaza. The Government’s criticism of the war and genocide of the Palestinian people has brought the relationship between Spain and Israel to its most critical moment.
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