War on tourists spreads to the south of France as Marseille officials start sawing off key boxes in clampdown on Airbnb lettings

The mayor of Marseille has announced that all lockboxes and key safes must be removed from properties in a matter of days as part of new measures cracking down on Airbnb rentals amid spiralling house prices.

Starting earlier this month, city officials began affixing large warning stickers to properties sporting the lockboxes, which are seen as a convenient way for short-term rental landlords to give clients access to their accommodation.

The sticker grants the owner a ten-day grace period to remove the box, underlining that such items left hanging in public spaces are considered unauthorised.

Failure to act within the stipulated timeframe allows the city to saw the boxes off buildings before disposing of them.

Owners will need to visit the city’s lost property department to retrieve their keys, with shocking images already emerging of workers taking saws to some lock boxes.

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

Fast-rising prices and low housing stock have left many Marseille residents struggling to find adequate housing.

Announcing the measure earlier this month, Payan said: ‘I’m going to use everything the law gives me as a weapon [to prevent this phenomenon]. 

‘We’re going to make [Airbnb hosts] stop wanting to make money off the back of the people of Marseille.’ 

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

Payan previously declared he would push to introduce laws similar to those in force in other parts of France, notably Paris and Bordeaux, some of which compel property owners looking to rent out second homes to buy properties of equal or greater size and offer traditional long-term listings for their accommodation alongside Airbnb lets.

‘From the first second home (rented on Airbnb), I’m going to oblige the landlord to buy a flat and rent it out long-term,’ he told FranceInfo earlier this month. 

He added: ‘75% of investors (in Marseille) are not from the city, and are using Airbnb’ – something he said was ’emptying the city’ and making it too hard for locals to find suitable accommodation. 

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

‘I’m sending these people to the public prosecutor, one after the other,’ he said in reference to owners who do not observe housing regulations and let out properties in squalid conditions.  

‘I’m going to wage war on them, I’m waging war on them and I will continue to do so.

‘There’s no reason why people should take advantage of poverty in this city,’ he said. 

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

Activists calling themselves ‘Robin Hood’ have pulled off several safes from properties in the Italian capital, denying travellers access to their holiday lets.

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

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

‘We have removed these key storage boxes to denounce the sell-out of the city to short-stay holidays which alienate locals and leave residents out on the streets.’

The activists said rents had risen ‘exponentially’ in recent years.

‘This is only our first action against the Holy Year of the rich,’ their letters read.

More than 35 million tourists visited Rome last year, making it a record year and an all-time high in attendance.

The year prior, as Rome built back from the pandemic, some 15 million arrived – with 30 million overnight stays climbing 176 per cent from 2021.

Next year, Rome and Vatican City will also host its jubilee ‘Holy Year’, expected to attract some 30 million visitors from around the world, piling extra pressure onto locals.

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

Demonstrators clashed with police in Venice in April over a new ‘tourist tax’ imposition, requiring short-stay visitors to pay an ‘entrance fee’ of €5.

Protestors armed with signs and banners lined the historic canals of the Italian city to show their contempt, met by riot police wielding batons.

Critics maintain that the €5 (£4.30) fee, initially in effect through the summer, is unlikely to put a significant dent in the circa 30 million trips made to Venice each year.