The war on tourists spreads to the south of France as Marseille officials start sawing off key boxes in the fight against Airbnb rentals

The mayor of Marseille has announced that all key boxes and safes must be removed from homes within days as part of new measures against Airbnb rentals amid rising house prices.

Early this month, city officials began posting large warning stickers on properties with lock boxes, seen as a convenient way for short-term rental owners to give customers access to their properties.

The sticker gives the owner a ten-day cooling-off period to remove the box, and underlines that such items left hanging in public areas are considered unauthorized.

If action isn’t taken within the deadline, the city could saw the boxes off buildings before throwing them away.

Owners will have to go to the city’s lost and found department to retrieve their keys. Shocking images are already emerging of workers looking at some key boxes.

Mayor Benoît Payan said the boxes are “littering the streets of Marseille”, adding that the new initiative aims to reclaim the city’s public space while preventing the rapid expansion of the short-term holiday rental market.

Due to rapidly rising prices and low housing stock, many residents of Marseille are struggling to find adequate housing.

Announcing the measure earlier this month, Payan said: “I am going to use everything the law gives me as a weapon (to prevent this phenomenon).

“We are going to make sure that (Airbnb hosts) no longer want to make money on the backs of the people of Marseille.”

In 2023, almost 13,000 properties in Marseille were rented on a seasonal basis, an increase of 45% since 2022, according to figures cited by Connexion France.

Payan previously stated that he would push for the introduction of laws similar to those in force in other parts of France, particularly Paris and Bordeaux. Some of these force property owners who want to rent out a second home to buy properties of equal or greater size and offer traditional long-term contracts. term offers for their accommodation in addition to Airbnb rentals.

“From the first second home (rented on Airbnb) I will oblige the landlord to buy an apartment and rent it out for the long term,” he told FranceInfo earlier this month.

He added: “75% of investors (in Marseille) are not from the city and use Airbnb” – something he says “empties the city” and makes it too difficult for locals to find suitable accommodation.

So-called ‘slum landlords’ are also on Payan’s agenda.

“I am sending these people one by one to the public prosecutor,” he said, referring to owners who do not comply with housing rules and rent out properties in deplorable conditions.

“I’m going to war against them, I’m going to war against them and I will continue to do so.

“There is no reason why people should take advantage of the poverty in this city,” he said.

The new initiative being rolled out in Marseille comes as a movement of Italian protesters began sabotaging key boxes in Rome.

Activists calling themselves ‘Robin Hood’ have removed several safes from properties in the Italian capital, blocking travelers from entering their holiday homes.

Letters were attached to lampposts in the city under Robin Hood felt hats, describing the vandalism as ‘the first’ attack on ‘the rich’.

‘If you’re looking for the key safes and can’t find them, read this. We are rebelling,” read one note, shared by local media.

‘We removed these key boxes to challenge the city’s sell-out of short breaks, which is alienating locals and leaving residents on the streets.’

According to the activists, rents have risen ‘exponentially’ in recent years.

“This is only our first action against the Holy Year of the Rich,” they read in their letters.

More than 35 million tourists visited Rome last year, making it a record year and a record number of visitors.

The year before, as Rome recovered from the pandemic, some 15 million arrived – with 30 million overnight stays, a 176 percent increase on 2021.

Next year, Rome and Vatican City will also host the Jubilee ‘Holy Year’, which is expected to attract some 30 million visitors from around the world, putting extra pressure on locals.

But some residents worry that keeping tourists away will affect their livelihoods or tarnish their city’s reputation.

Protesters clashed with police in Venice in April over a new ‘tourist tax’, which would require short-stay visitors to pay a €5 ‘entrance fee’.

Protesters armed with signs and banners lined the Italian city’s historic canals to show their contempt, met by riot police with batons.

Critics argue that the €5 (£4.30) fare, initially in place over the summer, is unlikely to make a significant dent in the approximately 30 million trips made to Venice each year.