High Court of Justice of Madrid

The High Court of Justice of Madrid (Tribunal Superior de Justicia de Madrid, TSJM) refused on 23 March 2026 to suspend the €64 million fine imposed on Airbnb by Spain's Ministry of Consumer Affairs, the first national STR enforcement action to survive a suspension challenge anywhere in the EU. Airbnb subsequently filed a reconsideration motion; as of 14 June 2026 no hearing date has been set. A separate ruling by Spain's Supreme Court (STS 620/2026, 21 May 2026) voided the national STR registration number on constitutional grounds, giving Airbnb a potential competence-based defence in its pending motion, though that ruling, issued by a different and higher court, does not directly determine the outcome here.

The High Court of Justice of Madrid is the highest court within the Madrid Autonomous Community, sitting above the ordinary civil and administrative courts but below the Supreme Court. It handles appeals in administrative, civil, criminal and social matters. In this case, Airbnb sought an interim suspension of the fine pending its full appeal against the Ministry of Consumer Affairs' December 2025 sanction. The court's refusal means the fine stands while the substantive appeal proceeds; it does not constitute a final ruling on the merits.

The TSJM's handling of the Airbnb case sits at the intersection of consumer-affairs enforcement, EU platform regulation, and Spain's broader housing politics. Spain's Plan Estatal de Vivienda 2026-2030 (Real Decreto 326/2026) explicitly frames STR enforcement alongside €7 billion in supply-side investment as a two-pronged response. The Supreme Court's constitutional invalidation of the national registration number (STS 620/2026) adds a new dimension: if the legal basis underpinning the original €64m sanction is eroded, the TSJM's substantive ruling on the reconsideration motion will carry proportionately greater weight for how STR enforcement is contested across the EU.

As of 14 June 2026, the High Court of Justice of Madrid has still set no hearing date on Airbnb's reconsideration motion against the €64 million fine. A significant development now bears on the pending motion: Spain's Tribunal Supremo in STS 620/2026 (21 May 2026) partially annulled Royal Decree 1312/2024, voiding the mandatory national Unique Registration Number for short-term rentals on constitutional competence grounds. The TSJM and the Tribunal Supremo are distinct courts; the Supreme Court's ruling does not directly resolve the Airbnb appeal, but it provides a competence-based argument that Airbnb is expected to deploy. How the TSJM weighs that argument will shape whether Spain's consumer-affairs enforcement model survives the constitutional challenge, and will set the procedural template for platform STR challenges across the EU under Regulation 2024/1028.