UK tourists staying in Lanzarote, Tenerife and Gran Canaria and could face a clampdown with 4,000 holiday apartments removed with Booking.com acting to crackdown on apartments and illegal rentals. The Canary Islands are among the most popular Spanish destinations for British tourists, welcoming nearly 6.3 million last year. 4,093 listings removed by Booking.com didn’t have a valid registration or licence number. Alternatively, they were removed because they failed to confirm whether a property was managed by an individual or a company. 4,093 listings were removed by Booking.com, with a significant number affecting properties across the Canary Islands. Other affected regions included Asturias, Cantabria, Castilla y Le贸n, Navarra, La Rioja, and Castilla-La Mancha. READ MORE State pension age could change for millions born in the 1970s The Ministry praised Booking.com for its cooperation, calling it a 鈥減ositive step鈥 in the effort to ensure holiday rentals meet legal standards. Spain鈥檚 Minister for Consumer Affairs, Pablo Bustinduy, said the surge in unlicensed short-term lets is a key factor behind housing shortages in popular tourist areas like the Canaries. “This kind of unregulated activity puts pressure on the local housing market and reduces the availability of affordable homes for residents,” he told the Canarian Weekly . 鈥淭his kind of unregulated activity puts pressure on the local housing market and reduces the availability of affordable homes for residents,鈥 he said. The action comes just days after Spain鈥檚 High Court in Madrid backed the Ministry鈥檚 request for Airbnb to remove over 65,000 similar listings nationwide. It comes after Steve Heapy, chief executive of airline and tour operator Jet2 , said there is a 鈥減erception鈥 among some people that overseas visitors are not welcome in Spain. Mr Heapy said: 鈥淲e鈥檝e had people ringing the call centre and going into travel agents, asking questions like 鈥榠s Spain safe鈥, 鈥榓re we still welcome in the resort鈥.鈥 He went on: 鈥淚t is becoming a big issue unfortunately, and perception becomes truth.鈥 Mr Heapy said 鈥渦nlicensed tourism鈥 鈥 such as people staying in private accommodation listed on Airbnb 鈥 is 鈥渃ausing a huge problem鈥 and 鈥渘eeds to be controlled鈥. He said: 鈥淯nfortunately there鈥檚 been a massive explosion in unlicensed tourism properties.鈥 He went on: 鈥淎irbnb can be controlled. They don鈥檛 rule the world. They are an online platform that we can control and put legislation in place.鈥