Another tool used by Public Administrations is the screening of both municipal and Autonomous Community tourist license databases, to check that everything is in order, by visiting the physical address22. For this reason, it has become normal for local councils to hire workers whose primary mission is to carry out these active surveillance tasks consisting of on-site searches in buildings detected on websites based on the addresses of the properties listed on the offers of intermediary platforms. This task facilitates the work of the inspectors, as these "viewers" alert the inspectors to the existence of irregularities, which is the first step towards the opening of proceedings and, if necessary, the subsequent sanction23. In addition, the spotter's interview tourists to obtain the address where they are staying, the channel through which they have contracted the flat, and, if possible, a copy of the contract. This information will be useful to carry out the inspection task when they detect dwellings that are operating as tourist flats without being so. They also carry out interviews with neighbors, asking them if they know of the existence of illegal tourist accommodation and, if they do, the viewers obtain their address. b) Use of scraping techniques. Practical legal issues The greater availability of data on the internet facilitates the development of new data analysis and processing tools and the application of new technologies to improve the detection of offenses. These are proactive tools that allow for the improvement of ex officio detection. Thus, the most important information channel in this digital ecosystem consists of tracking or automated searches on digital platforms. The inspection activity of the tourism administration can link data obtained on the web with its databases and confirm in a very short time whether it is aware that a private individual is marketing his or her property and therefore can or should be subject to administrative control24. In such 22 It is common for providers of TUV services to have a license, but not to have it visible to the public (as required by some regulations). 23 In Barcelona, there is a team of forty workers, visualizers, who are dedicated to this task. They work in pairs for 7 or 8 hours a day, equipped with a Smartphone with license data and maps of the city from which they can open and close files. https://www.elconfidencial.com/espana/cataluna/2017-05-27/barcelona-airbnb-ada-colau-pisos-turisticosgentrificacion-turistificacion_1389472/ , last accessed: 17 February 2022. 24 Bauza Martorell, 2017, p. 26.
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