Spanish travel company eDreams blocks accommodation listings in West Bank settlements

Spanish travel company eDreams has withdrawn and will continue to block listings of accommodation in Israeli settlements in the West Bank, its chief financial officer says.

David Elizaga tells Reuters the company has always had a policy of not offering services in the Israeli settlements, but says some listings automatically appeared on its website after owners uploaded them on platforms.

The issue came to the fore at an Annual General Meeting in July that attracted pro-Palestinian protests against the company after it was the only Spanish firm named on the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights’ list, published in 2023.

Elizaga says the company activated location screenings to filter out apartments and hotels offered in the settlements.

In addition to its contact with the United Nations, eDreams has been in touch with NGOs and local organizations to ensure it does not again appear in lists of companies that provide “services and utilities supporting the maintenance and existence of settlements.”

“The United Nations works at the speed at which it works with the resources they have,” Elizaga says, adding that in the next edition of the report, they should not be included.

The United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights Office says an update of the report will be made public a few days before it is officially presented on September 29.

Earlier on Tuesday, eDreams reported it had delivered a net profit of 13.6 million euros ($15.92 million) for the April to June period, the first quarter of its accounting year, from a net loss of 1.2 million euros in the same period last year.