Abstract

COCOLA-GANT, Agustín. Tourist apartments, COVID -19, and platform capitalism. Finisterra [online]. 2020, n.115, pp.211-216.  Epub Dec 31, 2020. ISSN 0430-5027.  https://doi.org/10.18055/finis20187.

To understand how the short-term rental market is responding to the pandemic, we need to analyse how this market has been reorganized in recent years. This text is based on the study we carried out of this market in Portugal within the scope of the SMARTOUR project, and highlights two fundamental points. The first is to grasp the flexibility and control over the property that this market offers to owners and investors. The second point is the rise of short-term rental management agencies and how they position themselves in the current digital platform capitalism. The text explains how these aspects allow property owners to speculate on assets for a few months while waiting for the tourist market to come back, which means an increase of the vulnerability of tenants like never before to the point that housing loses its social function.

Keywords : Short-term rentals; platform capitalism; Covid-19; housing financialisation; neoliberalism.

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