AirBnB and Uber in Madrid/Northern Spain

Where do you plan to go in northern Spain and at what time of year?

That's not quite so... in Catalonia you can often find websites, including news outlets, in Catalan -the local language-, in Spanish and in English (and sometimes also French). And as per Spanish media, El Pais also offers an English version.

Anyway, albeit you're mentioning Madrid and Northern Spain only but since the issue has popped up, I would like to clarify the stance of these disruptor services here in Catalonia -which, for those unfamiliar, includes Barcelona, Costa Brava, Costa Daurada, Vall d'Aran or Girona, among other, so as to inform anyone visiting.

Note that albeit each of the 17 autonomous communities in Spain (=state, for our US friends) has its own regulations, Catalonia often pioneers legislative initiatives which are later copied (or say, 'adapted', LOL!) in other autonomous communities resulting in very similar legislation on that particular matter. Hence the reason for this post.

BACKGROUND
While these sort of services are not strictly forbidden per se here, nor in most other countries in Europe, they're expected to comply with local laws AND pay taxes locally as well, like any other business, so as to keep a healthy and fair competition with established businesses. This is the Achilles heel of these so called "disruptor" services... they portray themselves as mere intermediaries and hence they say they're not obliged by the local laws on transportation or on renting apartments. However, several sentences of the EU Court of Justice, more recently in July this year, have said otherwise. While the EU Commissioner for Competition encourages these and other services to develop across Europe, they're expected to play by the same rules than everybody else (Principle of Fairness). This also includes, of course, paying taxes locally. This issue, as you might be aware, is a huge cause of concern among EU countries in regards to several large American corporations -from Google to Uber to Starbucks- dodging their obligations to pay taxes in the countries they operate. So far, legal loopholes have allowed these corporations to establish themselves in EU countries with low corporate taxes (ie Ireland or Luxemburg) and centralise their tax payments there while operating across the whole EU at the same time. Some countries have already amended their tax legislation to reduce this sort of unfair practices and the whole scene is likely to change very soon at an EU level.

PRIVATE TAXI SERVICES

Taxi's a regulated industry over here. In the city of Barcelona, there are over 11,000 taxis (for a population of 1,6 mil. In comparison: NY 13,000 licenses, pop 8 mil.). Anyone willing to start a taxi business needs to apply for a license -which are very limited and scarce- or, most often, buy someone else's. Furthermore, fares are regulated as to avoid excesses, and these are negotiated and approved every year between the Metropolitan Taxi Authority (IMT) and the Barcelona City Hall. In comparison with other European cities, taxis are quite inexpensive, for example, an average ride crossing the city east to west or north to south on a normal day with normal traffic shouldn't cost more than 10-12€. For info: ALL taxis are painted black and yellow, irrespectively of the company.

• UBER: for the time being it doesn't have the authorization to operate in Barcelona. Period.
• CABIFY: I believe they have some licenses but there are problems with the taxi companies because they claim they're not obeying the law.

--part 1--

TOURIST APARTMENT RENTALS

Firstly, it's important to explain the definitions of these two types of accommodation as this is often the cause of misunderstandings due to its mis-using, even among locals!

• Apartament Turístic (tourist apartment): It's similar to a hotel, a group of units located in a whole building -or part of it- and exploited as a business. The sign "AT" is clearly visible at the entrance of the building.
• Habitatge d'us turistic, aka H.U.T. (dwelling for tourist use): An individual unit located in a residential building, that's rented for a maximum of 31 days at a time. This can be a whole flat or part of it (ie room rentals). This must be registered in the Registry of Tourist Dwellings which indicates it complies with the requirements to operate (minimum standards, licenses and taxes). You should NOT rent any unit that doesn't indicate a license number (HUT or HUTB + number) in its advertisement.

Often the term "tourist apartment" is (mis)used to refer to both types.

It is COMPULSORY to be registered in the above-mentioned registry in order to be able to commercialise a "habitatge d'ús turístic" (dwelling for tourist use), which are the ones most sought after by the majority of visitors. These offer the cosiness of a home and they are supposed to 'feel more local' so to speak. As of August 2017, most rental websites offering these sort of accommodation (ie Bookings.com, Wimdu, etc) comply with the local legislation regarding this issue ("being registered and having an HUTB number") and don't allow posts without such license in their websites.

However NOT all do comply with the local law just yet: Airbnb has been fined already twice -the later has been a 600,000€ fine alongside HomeAway- for not complying. Recently, as of last month, they agreed with the Barcelona City Hall to remove up to 1000 advertisements in their website which didn't comply with the local law and ensure that any new advertisement would comply with it. We'll see how it goes...

While a non-registered apartment doesn't necessarily have to be a scam -and in fact many are not- the compliance with the law is not only a civic duty for everybody (including you as customer) but also, on the practical side, it's an assurance you won't find yourself without an accommodation when you arrive in Barcelona. The Barcelona City Hall has been cracking on illegal apartments quite heavily and 2300+ have been closed just last year. Note a similar path has been taken in other cities in Catalonia, ie. Girona

When looking to rent a "habitatge d'ús turístic" (dwelling for tourist use) anywhere Catalonia, make sure the HUT (or HUTB in Barcelona) license number is displayed in the advertisement. And if you want to make sure is legit, you can check either in the registry mentioned above or, if Barcelona, in this website set by the City Hall, which is very user-friendly.

Expect similar legislation elsewhere in Spain... or if not yet in place, expect it soon enough.

Enjoy!

Forget Uber and use taxis. They are looking for business, fairly priced and are accessible.
As Enric inferred, unlicensed apartments on international listings are being found out and closed. If you aren't looking for a place right away, I would be reluctant to use AirBnB unless I knew the place was registered and I could double check the number with some registration website like Barcelona provides. Some people are posting that their rental in Spain has been cancelled and closed so this puts up caution flags in my mind. As mentioned, Booking does rent apartments. There are most likely other Madrid based companies. I personally prefer a booking system that gives some protection to my payment. Many local rental agencies require bank transfers and full payment prior to arrival, and then a hefty cash security deposit. I only do that if there are no other options in town.
If you choose to use Booking, ensure you read the cancellation rules as the apartments are often more restrictive than hotel cancellation.

We stayed in apts this June and found them on Booking.com. There were tons. You could choose to search out what you want and then book directly - you may get a better price. I had absolutely no problems. We love to stay in apts over hotels, hands down.

Uber is, indeed, in Madrid - and legal. I used it myself in May. A year ago, when Uber was new to Madrid, that was the only city that had it. I only needed it in Madrid this year, so I don't know if it exists anywhere else. You can check what cities they operate in at Uber.com. My Uber this year was a Tesla, and my driver was dressed in a suit. I was also offered water when I got in the car. Great service!

As for apartments, you might look at a company called Gowithoh.com I have friends who have rented really nice apartments through them.

Acraven / Enric – plan to fly into Madrid and then head up to the North, specifically Santiago, San Sebastian and Bilbao, Pamplona and the Rioja region. We will not be staying in Barcelona this time around:(

We’ll be driving (outside of Madrid) but I was curious about whether we can take Uber when we’re in the cities - it seems Uber will be fine in Madrid but taxis will work fine outside of Madrid when we’re not driving.

Thanks for all of the info re lodging. As I suspected, there is controversy around “disruptor services” like Airbnb. Major urban cities seem to be more receptive than others. Happy to book actual hotels and am checking Booking.com and Gowithoh.com for accommodations. All great recommendations.

We used AirBnB in Bilbao and the Rioja area in 2016 as we prefer apartment accommodation over hotel rooms giving us the option to make meals, do laundry and relax after long days. As for Uber, we didn't use it in Spain finding the subway system in Madrid and Barcelona extremely convenient when we didn't want to walk (too far or torrential rain!). AirBnB is getting to be a bit of a moral choice and I'm often conflicted but I continue to use it once I start searching for hotels and realize what a strong aversion I have to hotels. Probably as a result of 30+ years of corporate travel. Like you, I have used Uber in Paris and was an immediate convert. I think the genie is out of the bottle for both car share and AirBnB type services but both need to fix many issues not least of which is local taxes. Let's hope they both find a way to play nice in the sandbox without a lot more unpleasantness. I would gladly pay a little more if I knew it was going to the cities I'm visiting.