Spain's Parliament threw out the government's seasonal-rental and lease-renewal decrees within days of publication. Brussels proposed that cities may cap short lets only if they run a working register. Portugal, Mexico, Australia and Thailand tightened the paperwork around who stays and for how long.
Registers now decide who may restrict short lets, and Spain has lost the national tools to build one.
Spain's Congress of Deputies refused on 2 October to validate both new rental decree-laws, by 172 to 178 and 166 to 184. Junts, the Partido Popular and Vox voted against both.
ArgentinaSpain's Parliament killed two housing decrees on 2 October, three days after the cabinet approved them on 29 September. Seasonal-rental rules and five-year lease renewals both lapse.
The seasonal decree also taxed tourist lets at 10% value added tax (VAT) and capped rent rises between temporary contracts. Nothing replaces those measures yet.
The European Commission's draft Affordable Housing Act lets a city cap short lets only if it already runs a working host register. Measures adopted before the Act takes effect escape its tests.
BelgiumBrussels published a draft law on 9 September that lets cities restrict short lets only in the most expensive housing markets. Each restriction would need three years of proof that short lets harmed housing.
Barcelona counted 525 illegal tourist-flat listings in August, 47% above May. Mayor Jaume Collboni says the draft supports his plan to end 10,101 licences in November 2028.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on 17 September that second- and third-year working holiday visas will be allocated by ballot, with year three capped at 5,000 against 31,000 who qualified last year.
Australia's Home Affairs minister Tony Burke said on 17 September that working holiday extensions for a second and third year will go to a ballot. The third year shrinks from 31,000 qualifiers to 5,000 places.
On last year's numbers, about four in five second-year qualifiers would win a place. Fewer than one in six third-year qualifiers would. No start dates exist.
Lei 62/2026, in force since 11 September, repealed the clause that deemed a residence-permit renewal granted when Portugal's migration agency missed its deadline. A foreigner facing silence must now sue.
Portugal ended automatic approval of late residence-permit renewals on 11 September. Its migration agency, the Agency for Integration, Migration and Asylum (AIMA), can now miss the 60-day deadline without anyone receiving a permit by default.
Applicants must sue instead, in Administrative Courts already holding 152,000 pending cases. The government approved specialised immigration courts in July to take such suits.
The Thai Royal Gazette published the 30-day visa exemption on 31 August, in force from 15 September. The gazetted text also lets land arrivals use the exemption only twice a calendar year.
Thailand's shorter visa-free stay began on 15 September. Citizens of 60 countries now get 30 days, down from 60, and most land-border visitors can use it only twice a year.
Since 31 August, Thailand's London mission requires Destination Thailand Visa applicants to show permanent UK or Irish residence and a police certificate under six months old.
Mexico's 2027 budget would raise the fee every foreign tourist pays to 1,334.80 pesos and send a quarter of it to the immigration agency. Long-stay visitor visas would rise 153%.
Mexico wants to lift its tourist entry fee from 983 to 1,334.80 pesos in 2027 and give 26% of the money to the immigration agency. Deputies aim to vote on the revenue bills by 15 October.
Mexico City opened formal host and platform registers on 30 September. An opposition deputy also re-filed a bill charging foreign guests a nightly fee after the 20th night.
Saint Lucia's Philip J. Pierre and Antigua and Barbuda's Gaston Browne met Commissioner Magnus Brunner in New York on 24 September and left without an announced deal on the June 2028 deadline.
Saint Lucia and Antigua and Barbuda asked the EU in New York on 24 September for a longer wind-down of their passport sales. The talks ended with no deal.
the Commission's June letter set two vetting safeguards due by September. No source confirms either was met, and a technical team meets EU officials in October.
Klungkung Regency took 2.7bn rupiah on Nusa Penida in nine September days after moving to single-gate collection, while Bali's own foreign-visitor levy stayed at about 43% compliance.
Bali's immigration office deported 18 foreign nationals from 21 to 27 September. One taught motorcycle riding on a remote-worker permit that the office says was obtained dishonestly.
On 30 September Indonesia's anti-corruption Commission sent eight suspects' files in a residence-permit extortion case to prosecutors. the Commission alleges 145.5bn rupiah was taken from foreign applicants.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on 5 September that new short-let registrations in central Athens and Thessaloniki's historic centre would stay suspended until 31 December 2027. No ministerial decision has given it force yet.
Greek prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced on 5 September that new short-let registrations stay suspended in central Athens and Thessaloniki's historic centre until 31 December 2027. No ministerial decision has been found.
Golden-visa applications fell 39% to 3,086 in January to July. The backlog stood at 29,273 files, against more than 52,000 at the start of 2025.
Medellín's council opened debate on 26 September on a land-use revision that would confine tourist housing to mixed zones and metro corridors. Registered tourist homes have risen from 521 in 2019 to 8,322.
ColombiaArgentinaMedellín's city council began debating a land-use rewrite on 26 September. Platforms and host groups say it would allow short lets freely in only 3.4% of the city.
Colombia's Foreign Ministry also set 31 October as the last day to move old permanent-resident visas onto the current regime. Its notice names no penalty for missing the date.
Cape Town's draft Short-Term Letting By-law would make every listed property register and would rate a home available for more than 183 nights a year as commercial from July 2027.
Cape Town's draft by-law would rate full-time short lets as businesses from 1 July 2027, at about three times the residential rate. Public comment closes on 5 October.
GroundUp counted more than 27,000 Airbnb listings in the city. In inner-city ward 115, one host controls 147 flats and large operators hold two in every five listings.
UN Tourism cut its 2026 growth forecast for international arrivals to 1-2% on 15 September. A day later Japan reported its steepest monthly fall of the year as Chinese visitors dropped 59%.
UN Tourism now expects international arrivals to grow only 1-2% in 2026, against its January forecast of 3-4%. Asia-Pacific growth slipped from 3% in the first quarter to 1% for the half.
Japan lost 59.0% of its Chinese visitors in August but gained 28.7% more Koreans. It is 2.7% behind 2025 so far this year.
Every provider of paid overnight stays in Wales, from a spare room to a campsite, must register by 31 March 2027. England's short-let register has slipped to March 2027.
Every paid overnight provider in Wales must register with the Welsh Revenue Authority by 31 March 2027. The duty covers spare rooms and campsites, with or without a local visitor levy.
England's register slipped to March 2027. Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told MPs it would be fully operational by then, but fees and data fields are unconfirmed.
Tuscany's administrative court refused on 25 September to suspend Florence's freeze on new short lets in nine zones before a full hearing. Venice floated about €30 for entry in 2027.
ItalyA Tuscan administrative court refused on 25 September to pause Florence's ban on new tourist lets in nine zones. The challengers described their harm only in very generic terms.
The Tuscany Regional Administrative Tribunal has set no date for the full hearing. Venice's budget assessor Michele Zuin floated a charge of about €30 on peak days from 2027, up from €5 or €10 in 2026.
Brazil has issued temporary visas, the digital nomad visa included, only electronically since 1 September for visa-exempt nationals. Panama has reset its investor-residence thresholds at $300,000 and $500,000.
Since 1 September, Brazil's foreign ministry has issued digital nomad and other temporary visas only electronically to nationals who need no visitor visa. Applicants upload documents and receive the visa by email.
Panama's Decree 17 of 8 September sets the resale-property route to investor residence at $500,000, while new builds stay at $300,000. Files already lodged follow the old rules.
Saudi Arabia's Premium Residency Center launched 31 new and updated services for holders on 22 September, including registration of their work contracts through the Qiwa labour platform, Okaz reported.
Saudi Arabia's Premium Residency Center added 31 services on 22 September, linking residents' work contracts, property deals and vehicle imports to government platforms.
In June the programme split work rights out of the visa, with a separate permit costing 100 riyals plus employer fees. Contracts now register through the Qiwa labour platform.
Direction: up. Mexico's Chamber of Deputies plenary, targeted for 15 October, decides whether the entry-fee rise of about 36% and the 26% migration-control share move to the Senate. Cape Town's council acts once comment closes on 5 October. Indonesian prosecutors have 14 days from 30 September to file the indictment against Silmy Karim and seven other suspects.
