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Spain Orders Airbnb to Block Nearly 66,000 Holiday Rental Listings over Rule Violations

Demonstrators march shouting slogans against the Formula 1 Barcelona Fan Festival in downtown Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, June 19, 2024, during residents protest against mass tourism. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)
Demonstrators march shouting slogans against the Formula 1 Barcelona Fan Festival in downtown Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, June 19, 2024, during residents protest against mass tourism. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)
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Spain Orders Airbnb to Block Nearly 66,000 Holiday Rental Listings over Rule Violations

Demonstrators march shouting slogans against the Formula 1 Barcelona Fan Festival in downtown Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, June 19, 2024, during residents protest against mass tourism. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)
Demonstrators march shouting slogans against the Formula 1 Barcelona Fan Festival in downtown Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, June 19, 2024, during residents protest against mass tourism. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti, File)

Spain has ordered Airbnb to block more than 65,000 holiday listings on its platform for having violated rules, the Consumer Rights Ministry said Monday.

The ministry said that many of the 65,935 Airbnb listings it had ordered to be withdrawn did not include their license number or specify whether the owner was an individual or a company. Others listed numbers that didn't match what authorities had, it said.

Spain is grappling with a housing affordability crisis that has spurred government action against short-term rental companies.

In recent months, tens of thousands of Spaniards have taken to the streets protesting rising housing and rental costs, which many say have been driven up by holiday rentals on platforms like Airbnb that have proliferated in cities like Madrid and Barcelona and many other popular tourist destinations, The AP news reported.

“Enough already with protecting those who make a business out of the right to housing,” Consumer Minister Pablo Bustinduy told reporters on Monday.

Airbnb said that it would appeal the decision. Through a spokesperson, the company said it did not think the ministry was authorized to rule on short-term rentals — and that it had utilized “an indiscriminate methodology” to include Airbnb rentals that do not need a license to operate.

Last year, Barcelona announced a plan to close down all of the 10,000 apartments licensed in the city as short-term rentals by 2028 to safeguard the housing supply for full-time residents.

The ministry said it had notified Airbnb of the noncompliant listings months ago, but that the company had appealed the move in court.

Spain's government said Madrid’s high court had backed the order sent to Airbnb. Bustinduy said it involved the immediate removal of 5,800 rental listings from the site. Two subsequent orders would be issued until the nearly 66,000 removals are reached, he said.

Spain's government said the first round of affected properties were located across the country, including in the capital, Madrid, as well as in the regions of Andalusia and Catalonia, whose capital is Barcelona.

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Varieties

Meghan Markel's Lifestyle Brand Ends Partnership with Netflix

The Duchess of Sussex in her Netflix series, With Love, Meghan (Netflix)
The Duchess of Sussex in her Netflix series, With Love, Meghan (Netflix)
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Meghan Markel's Lifestyle Brand Ends Partnership with Netflix

The Duchess of Sussex in her Netflix series, With Love, Meghan (Netflix)
The Duchess of Sussex in her Netflix series, With Love, Meghan (Netflix)

The Duchess of Sussex's lifestyle brand has ended its partnership with Netflix, it has been announced, according to BBC.

‘As ever’ was launched by Meghan last year and supported financially by the streaming giant, in a separate deal to that of her TV content.

On Friday, both As ever and Netflix released statements confirming that the duchess's brand would become fully independent.

It follows last year's announcement of a much watered-down relationship between the Duke and Duchess of Sussex and Netflix over producing TV series for the platform, BBC said.

A spokesperson for As ever said it was grateful for the partnership with Netflix during the brand's first year, adding: “We have experienced meaningful and rapid growth and As ever is now ready to stand on its own.”

For its part, Netflix said in a statement: “Meghan's passion for elevating everyday moments in beautiful yet simple ways inspired the creation of the As ever brand, and we are glad to have played a role in bringing that vision to life.”

It added, “As it was always intended, Meghan will continue growing the brand and take it into its next chapter independently.”

As ever, best known for its jam, sells products including teas, shortbread cookies and flower sprinkles.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex signed a contract with Netflix in 2020 to produce TV and films for the streaming platform, believed to be worth about $100 million (£75 million).

Meghan’s lifestyle and cookery show - With Love, Meghan - ran for two series and a Christmas special but did not perform well with audiences.

Netflix figures showed that the first series was not in the streaming service's top 300 most popular shows in the first half of 2025.

After the contract ended last summer, it was replaced by a “first look deal” which gives Netflix first dibs on any new proposed shows from Meghan and the Duke of Sussex.

Varieties

Sri Lankan Baker to Supply Elysée Palace with Baguette

Sithamparappillai Jegatheepan won the prestigious prize for best traditional French baguette (Instagram)
Sithamparappillai Jegatheepan won the prestigious prize for best traditional French baguette (Instagram)
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Sri Lankan Baker to Supply Elysée Palace with Baguette

Sithamparappillai Jegatheepan won the prestigious prize for best traditional French baguette (Instagram)
Sithamparappillai Jegatheepan won the prestigious prize for best traditional French baguette (Instagram)

In a big surprise, a baker from Sri Lanka clinched the prestigious prize for best traditional French baguette, which comes with a €4,000 prize and the right to supply the Elysée Palace with fresh loaves every morning, according to The Telegraph.

Sithamparappillai Jegatheepan, 43, works at the Fournil Didot bakery in the 14th arrondissement. He is Sri Lankan, and so are his two deputy bakers.
“It was a big surprise. It was my first time and I won straight away. I’m very proud,” he told The Telegraph.

Every year since 1994, the city of Paris and the Greater Paris Bakers’ Union convene to elect the grand prix de la baguette de tradition française de la ville de Paris (grand prize for the traditional French baguette of Paris).

A jury of experts, councilors, aficionados and laymen munch through hundreds of loaves from among the capital’s 1,100 boulangeries, before homing in on a winner.

The rules are strict.

Each baguette has to weigh between 250 and 270g, measure between 50 and 55 centimeters, and not exceed a salt content of 1.4 grams per 100 grams. Some 29 bakeries were disqualified this year.

“There is a score for appearance, another score for baking, a third score for alveolation, one for taste and a fifth for smell,” said Pascal Barillon, former laureate, vice president of the Greater Paris bakers’ union and a jury member for this year’s award.

The best baguettes, he said, have a crisp crust and a regular “honeycomb” crumb inside, with small, evenly distributed holes rather than large gaps followed by dense patches.

Color also plays a role: “Ideally you’re looking for a slightly golden crumb,” he said, explaining that a faint yellow hue can indicate careful fermentation and less kneading, which helps preserve flavor and aroma.

The baguettes that finished on the podium this year, he added, all shared the same qualities: “A beautiful interior, a regular crumb, a good color and they were well baked.”

In the end, however, the craft of baguette-making remains something of a mystery. “It’s a bit of alchemy,” Barillon said. “Every baker has their own personal touch.”

For Jegatheepan, it is a dream come true. After arriving in France from Sri Lanka in 2003, he started out with pastry, specializing in macarons, before moving on to bread.

Setting up his own business in 2018, he has since perfected his craft and turned it into a passion and now owns two boulangeries. This one sells 600 traditional baguettes per day at €1.30 a piece. Business has surged since the prize.

“I didn’t know anything about baking. I had never thought about it,” he told The Telegraph. “Then one day, when I tasted bread and pastries in France, I said to myself, ‘this is what I want to do’.”

Martin du Vachat, 41, a classical singer, said: “The award is well deserved. It’s golden and very beautiful. It’s a pleasure for the eyes and all the senses.”
“That said, you have to eat it quickly, because five hours later it’s not worth much. You should tell that to the Élysée.”

The bakery has not yet begun supplying the presidential palace, which generally orders 20-25 baguettes every morning.

Despite mastering the art of that most Gallic of gastronomic traditions, Jegatheepan doesn’t yet have French nationality.

“My request is being processed,” he said, confessing that perhaps this accolade would accelerate the procedure.

Varieties

Japan Approves Stem-cell Treatment for Parkinson's in World First

Parkinson's disease. John SAEKI, Adrian LEUNG / AFP
Parkinson's disease. John SAEKI, Adrian LEUNG / AFP
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Japan Approves Stem-cell Treatment for Parkinson's in World First

Parkinson's disease. John SAEKI, Adrian LEUNG / AFP
Parkinson's disease. John SAEKI, Adrian LEUNG / AFP

Japan has approved ground-breaking stem-cell treatments for Parkinson's and severe heart failure, one of the manufacturers and media reports said Friday, with the therapies expected to reach patients within months.

Pharmaceutical company Sumitomo Pharma said it received the green light for the manufacture and sale of Amchepry, its Parkinson's disease treatment that transplants stem cells into a patient's brain, said AFP.

Japan's health ministry also gave the go-ahead to ReHeart, heart muscle sheets developed by medical startup Cuorips that can help form new blood vessels and restore heart function, media reports said.

The treatments could be on the market and rolled out to patients as early as this summer, reports said, citing the health ministry, becoming the world's first commercially available medical products using (iPS) cells.

Japanese scientist Shinya Yamanaka won the Nobel Prize in 2012 for his research into iPS, which have the potential to develop into any cell in the body.

"I hope this will bring relief to patients not only in Japan but around the world," health minister Kenichiro Ueno told a press conference.

"We will promptly carry out all necessary procedures to ensure it reaches all patients without fail."

In a statement, Sumitomo Pharma said it had obtained "conditional and time-limited approval" for the manufacture and marketing of Amchepry under a system which is reportedly designed to get these products to patients as quickly as possible.

The approval is a kind of "provisional license", the Asahi newspaper said, after the safety and efficacy of the treatment was judged based on data from fewer patients than in ordinary clinical trials for drugs.

A trial led by Kyoto University researchers indicated that the company's treatment was safe and successful in improving symptoms.

The study involved seven Parkinson's patients aged between 50 and 69, with each receiving a total of either five million or 10 million cells implanted on both sides of the brain.

The iPS cells from healthy donors were developed into the precursors of dopamine-producing brain cells, which are no longer present in people with Parkinson's disease.

The patients were monitored for two years and no major adverse effects were found, the study said. Four patients showed improvements in symptoms.

Parkinson's disease is a chronic, degenerative neurological disorder that affects the body's motor system, often causing shaking and other difficulties in movement.

Worldwide, about 10 million people have the illness, according to the Parkinson's Foundation.

Currently available therapies "improve symptoms without slowing or halting the disease progression," the foundation says.

iPS cells are created by stimulating mature, already specialized, cells back into a juvenile state -- basically cloning without the need for an embryo.

The cells can be transformed into a range of different types of cells, and their use is a key sector of medical research.