Airbnb protesters vandalise key boxes in Milan and Florence
Airbnb is facing increasing opposition from residents in Italy, with campaigners in Milan and Florence taking to the streets to protest against the online accommodation giant.
“This City is Not a Hotel”
Campaigners in Milan claim that Airbnb is driving up rents and forcing locals out of the city, with ever more apartments being let through the platform. They’re using the slogan “This city is not a hotel” to emphasize their point.
A Sticker Campaign
This weekend, campaigners in Milan handed out stickers to locals which read “Less short lets, more houses for all” and urged people to affix them to keysafe boxes that are left fixed to apartment building entrances or padlocked to fences outside homes.
Florence Joins the Protest
In Florence, where an estimated 29 per cent of all flats in the city centre are now listed on Airbnb, protesters went to work with their own stickers which stated “Let’s save Florence so we can live in it” and held a demonstration outside a tourism conference.
A National Register is the Only Solution?
Mayors have asked the Italian government for help in limiting the spread of short-term lets, but Giorgia Meloni’s government has merely organised a national register to better quantify the phenomenon.
Other Cities Have Already Taken Action
Other cities across Europe have restricted residents to renting their flats out for a certain number of days a year. Why can’t Italy do the same?
A Misguided Explanation from the Tourism Minister
When asked about the protests, Daniela Santanchè, the Italian tourism minister, blamed the increasing desertification of Italy’s city centres on the growing number of mini-markets and kebab shops, often run by migrants 🤯.