Catalan tourist apartment detection tool is now helping cities across Europe tackle unlicensed holiday rentals.
The technology, developed by Barcelona-based company Talk&Code, began as a local project over a decade ago and is now being deployed in Italy, Malta, the UK, and Ireland.
Founder Francesc Serrano developed the system after a personal experience with Barcelona’s housing market.
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He and his partner nearly purchased a flat, only to discover the entire building would be converted to tourist apartments. Consequently, his software company began mapping holiday rental advertisements across the city, revealing significant patterns of unlicensed activity.
How The Catalan Tourist Apartment Detection Tool Works
The system monitors platforms like Airbnb, Booking, and Vrbo, scanning between 100,000 and 130,000 listings monthly. It verifies whether properties have the required licenses and generates digital evidence for inspection teams when irregularities are found. Furthermore, the tool helps identify fake advertisements, which typically offer suspiciously low prices.
“We’ve always been neutral,” Serrano explains. “We don’t say what’s good or bad, we only provide data for decision-making.” The company now works with the Catalan government and approximately 130 local councils across Catalonia, offering the tool free of charge to municipalities through a Generalitat initiative.
Successful implementations include Lloret de Mar, where the system helped detect around twenty illegal apartments, resulting in fines approaching half a million euros. The technology’s effectiveness has drawn international attention, leading to its recent adoption by Florence’s city council and the Maltese government.
Meanwhile, the company continues to refine its software, currently developing a fourth version enhanced with artificial intelligence. This upgrade aims to predict irregularity patterns and anticipate market changes that could create new tourist pressure zones. The firm reinvests its profits, with last year’s €400,000 revenue dedicated to technological improvements.
Serrano notes that in Catalonia, where 105,000 licenses are registered, only about 5% of published advertisements currently violate regulations. However, when entering new cities internationally, the company typically finds between 30% and 40% of listings operating outside legal frameworks. This disparity highlights the growing need for effective monitoring tools as cities worldwide grapple with housing market pressures exacerbated by tourist accommodation.
The expansion comes as European cities face increasing challenges balancing tourism with residential needs. According to the original report, Talk&Code aims to create an industry standard that allows all cities to “speak the same language” regarding tourist accommodation regulation. The company’s five-person team now targets further expansion into the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Central America.
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