The Madrid High Court rejected Airbnb’s request to suspend payment of a €64 million fine imposed by the Spanish Ministry of Consumer Affairs and ordered the company to pay the fine while the case is pending. This was reported by Spanish media, and the move is part of a broader campaign by Spanish authorities to tighten control over the short-term rental market.
According to a report by El País, the fine was imposed in December 2025 and is equivalent to approximately six times the amount of “illegally obtained profits” that, according to Spanish authorities, Airbnb received as a result of its controversial advertising practices. The court ruling, published on March 23, specifically concerns the denial of a stay of proceedings, meaning it does not resolve the dispute on its merits but prevents the company from postponing payment until a final verdict.
Spanish authorities justified the sanction based on three main violations. These include the publication of listings for tourist accommodations without the required license number, the use of false or incorrect registration data, and misleading information regarding the legal status of landlords. All of this was classified in Madrid as forms of unfair or misleading advertising.
Airbnb, in turn, stated that the court’s decision is procedural in nature and does not address the substance of the dispute, and that the company itself considers the fine to be contrary to Spanish and European law. The company has already appealed the sanction and is continuing its legal defense.
The case is unfolding against the backdrop of a general tightening of Spain’s policies regarding short-term rentals. According to Reuters, in the summer of 2025, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs announced that it had secured the removal of 65,000 Airbnb listings deemed to be in violation of the rules, and subsequently identified nearly 55,000 more listings lacking the required license numbers. Authorities link this campaign to efforts to ease the pressure of tourist rentals on the housing market and curb rising rent rates for local residents.
Spain as a whole has been tightening restrictions on short-term rentals over the past two years. In particular, in March 2025, one of the country’s highest courts upheld Barcelona’s plan to completely phase out short-term rental licensing by 2028. This underscores that Airbnb’s conflict with regulators is part of a broader shift in Spanish housing policy toward restricting short-term rentals in overheated tourist areas.
For the real estate market and the tourism sector, this means an increase in regulatory risks for short-term rental platforms in Spain.
For the platforms themselves, the key issue is no longer just the scale of the business, but also the ability to quickly adapt to new requirements regarding licensing, transparency of listings, and disclosure of information about property owners.
According to Serbian Economist, Serbia’s real estate market continued to grow through the end of 2025: in the fourth quarter, the total volume of transactions reached €2.4 billion, marking the highest quarterly level since the Real Estate Price Register was established. This was reported by the Republic Geodetic Institute of Serbia (RGZ).
According to RGZ, in October–December 2025, the market value rose by 9% year-over-year, and the number of purchase and sale agreements increased by 6.9%, to 37,386. Apartments accounted for €1.4 billion, or 61% of the total value of all transactions.
Regionally, the number of transactions in the fourth quarter rose by 10.9% in Belgrade and by 5.8% in Kragujevac, while a decline of 6.5% was recorded in Niš and 8.7% in Novi Sad. A total of €768.5 million was spent on apartment purchases in Belgrade alone during this period.
The most expensive apartment of the quarter was sold in the municipality of Savski Venac for €1.4 million, with an area of 90 square meters, while the maximum price per square meter in the same municipality reached €15,298. The most expensive house was also sold in Savski Venac for €1 million, and a parking space for €60,000.
Earlier, RGZ reported that as early as the first quarter of 2025, the market showed a 9.3% increase in value alongside a 2.4% decline in the number of transactions, indicating further appreciation of assets. By the end of the year, this trend persisted, but the market simultaneously returned to growth in the number of transactions.
Vera Yegorova-Tolsta, owner of the real estate agency VIDOVSTAN, also noted the market’s growth in her review. Overall, RGZ data show that even with local fluctuations in individual cities, Serbia’s real estate market remained one of the most stable segments of the country’s economy through the end of 2025.
https://t.me/relocationrs/2490
According to Interfax-Ukraine, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine has published the admission procedure for higher education in 2026, which sets out the rules for the admissions campaign to higher education institutions for bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs.
According to the ministry, key changes in the 2026 admissions campaign include the following: applicants may submit up to 10 applications in total, of which no more than five may be for state-funded spots; the priority system now applies not only to bachelor’s programs but also to master’s programs, including contract-based programs; for most creative majors, the creative competition coefficient has been increased to 0.7; interviews and creative competitions are conducted in person, with exceptions provided for certain categories of applicants, particularly those residing in temporarily occupied territories, serving in the military, or representing Ukraine in international competitions; the results of national final exams from European countries may be accepted in lieu of the National Multidisciplinary Test (NMT) for Ukrainian citizens; motivation letters are no longer a mandatory component of the application.
It is noted that for admission to bachelor’s programs, NMT results remain the primary selection criterion, and applicants may also use test results from previous years (2023, 2024, and 2025).
“The competitive score is calculated using a formula in which each subject has its own weight depending on the major. This means that the same applicant may have a different competitive score depending on the chosen major. This approach allows for consideration of which knowledge is key for a specific field of study. At the same time, applicants and parents are advised to pay attention to the weighting of subjects (subject coefficients) for a specific major before submitting applications,” the Ministry of Education stated.
Also this year, applicants for bachelor’s and master’s programs will rank their applications—that is, indicate which educational institution is their top choice (this rule also applies to contract-based programs).
“It is important to decide on a major and institution in advance, as the priority cannot be changed later,” the ministry noted.
For Ukrainians who graduated from high school in Europe in 2025 or 2026, the results of national graduation exams (such as the Polish matura) will be accepted for admission to Ukrainian universities instead of the NMT results.
Additionally, the following groups will undergo only an internal university interview instead of the NMT: war veterans (including individuals with war-related disabilities and combatants); individuals who have been imprisoned as a result of armed aggression against Ukraine; and applicants who were denied registration for the NMT due to the inability to provide special accommodations.
Certain categories of applicants are eligible for benefits but must take the NMT: orphans and children deprived of parental care; other categories admitted under Quota 1.
Among other things, separate state-funded spots under Quota 2 are provided for applicants from temporarily occupied territories and active combat zones.
“At the same time, admission requirements depend on the date of relocation. For example, if an applicant left after October 1, 2025 (or will be there during the admission campaign), they are eligible for an interview instead of the NMT and to compete for a state-funded spot. If an applicant left before October 1, 2025, they will be admitted based on their NMT results but are still eligible for quota 2.
In addition, the Ministry of Education has prepared a guide for applicants that explains the key stages and new changes in simple language: https://mon.gov.ua/news/hid-vstupnyka-2026-pokrokova-instruktsiia-do-zdobuttia-vyshchoi-osvity
In Romania, social support for Ukrainian refugees under temporary protection is provided, in particular, through the minimum inclusion income system; when determining eligibility for such assistance, the applicant’s total income is taken into account, including their Ukrainian state pension. This is stated in the explanations provided by the Dopomoha.ro portal.
According to the published information, Ukrainians under temporary protection in Romania are eligible for various social benefits under Law No. 196/2016 on the minimum inclusive income, as well as other support programs. The platform’s materials note that assistance depends on the applicant’s individual circumstances and legal status.
As indicated by publications on this topic, when transitioning to this support model, the authorities assess the household’s total income, and the Ukrainian pension is included in this calculation as income. This means that the amount of the Romanian social benefit may be reduced to account for the pension already received from Ukraine.
At the same time, other forms of assistance remain available to Ukrainians in Romania, including child benefits, support for mothers of newborns, unemployment benefits, and access to social services for people with disabilities. The amount and type of support depend on the specific category of the applicant and the documents submitted.
Thus, the key change for some Ukrainian refugees in Romania is that the pension from Ukraine is considered part of their total income and affects the amount of targeted social assistance they can receive under the Romanian system. According to Eurostat, as of the end of January 2026, there were over 193,000 people under temporary protection in Romania who had left Ukraine.
The UK has launched the Snooz ice cream brand, which is positioned as a product for evening consumption and contains chamomile, lemon balm, magnesium, and theanine. The launch of the new line was reported by specialized British publications covering branding and consumer trends.
According to the reports, the brand is capitalizing on consumers’ habit of eating ice cream in the evening. Materials about the launch of Snooz state that over 60% of ice cream is consumed after 6:00 PM, and the product’s positioning is built on this insight.
The ice cream’s ingredients include chamomile, lemon balm, magnesium, and theanine, which the brand classifies as sleep-friendly ingredients. However, available reports focus on the product’s marketing positioning as a better option for a late-night snack, rather than a medically proven remedy for insomnia.
The Snooz line features three main flavors: vanilla, chocolate, and salted caramel.
