MADRID, July 3 (Reuters) - Spain's government on

Wednesday announced a crackdown on short-term and seasonal

holiday lettings amid rising anger from locals who feel priced

out of the housing market.

The government will investigate listings on platforms such

as Airbnb ( ABNB ) and Booking.com to verify if they

have licences, consumer rights minister Pablo Bustinduy said.

"If a house doesn't have a license for tourism, advertising

it on internet platforms should be illegal and thus punished,"

Bustinduy said in an interview with state broadcaster TVE.

Spain is grappling with how to strike a balance between

sustaining tourism, one of the main drivers of its economy, and

addressing the concerns of locals who can no longer afford rents

because of gentrification and landlords shifting to more

lucrative tourist rentals.

Barcelona's mayor, Jaume Collboni, cited a 68% rise in rent

prices in the past decade as one reason for his

recently-announced plan to phase out all short-term lets in the

city by 2028.

Apartur, the association of tourism apartment owners, said

the measure amounted to expropriation while Spain's

Constitutional Court is deliberating whether the move is legal.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced earlier this week

that the government would create a registry of holiday rental

properties in a bid to limit the number of listings.

Residents of Barcelona, the Canary Islands and Malaga have

all staged protests against the rise in tourist rentals in

recent weeks. In these tourism hot spots, seasonal hospitality

workers struggle to find accommodation, with many resorting to

sleeping in caravans or even their cars.

Airbnb ( ABNB ) and Booking.com did not immediately respond to

requests for comment.

The government is also looking to take steps to curb

mid-term rentals of one to 11 months and may give neighbours in

apartment blocks a say over whether an owner can list their

property on platforms, housing minister Isabel Rodriguez said on

Tuesday evening,

"We have to preserve social rights, such as the right to

housing," Rodriguez told radio station Cadena SER.