Protesters in Spain, Italy and Portugal are calling for a curb on mass tourism – with Barcelona organisers telling demonstrators to deliver water pistols to shoot at holidaymakers.
Campaigners say extreme ranges of tourism are forcing locals out of reasonably priced housing, elevating the price of residing and making town centres unusable.
The newest in a rising variety of protests in recent times, anti-mass tourism demonstrations have been deliberate in Barcelona in addition to in seven different Spanish cities, together with Granada, Palma and Ibiza.
Protests have been additionally seen within the Portuguese capital Lisbon, in addition to in Italian hotspots Venice, Genova, Palermo, Milan and Naples, based on bulletins issued by a number of of the organising teams.
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Folks shoot within the route of vacationers with water weapons throughout a protest in opposition to overtourism in Barcelona, Spain. Pic: AP
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Pic: Reuters
The Menys Turisme Mes Vida (Much less Tourism Extra Life) marketing campaign group had informed us: “We say enough to the destruction of the territory, to the precariousness, to the housing crisis, to the loss of rights.”
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“With the rise of social media and Airbnbs, it seems like we have given up our traditions, festivities, local spots and so on in favour of mass tourism that does not properly engage with Spanish and Catalan culture and our small local businesses,” she stated.
“People come and see it as an amusement park, to the point where they have had to close some some landmarks that locals enjoyed going to because of overcrowding.”
“It is not fair for the people of Barcelona to have to endure precarious salaries in hospitality in order to serve mass tourism that stays in these short-term rental apartments, pushing people out of the neighbourhoods we grew up in, as we cannot afford housing anymore.”
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Pic: Reuters
Daniel Pardo, one of many organisers of the Barcelona protest, informed the Related Press: “It is very likely the water pistols will be back.
“The truth is, we encourage individuals to deliver their very own.”
“If I depart, will I be contributing to Barcelona dropping its essence that comes from its locals? However there comes a time after I’m fed up.”
He added that he has stopped using Airbnb when travelling, saying that “ultimately, you realise that that is taking away housing from individuals”.
Jaime Rodriguez de Santiago, Airbnb’s general director for Spain and Portugal, said that “plenty of our legislators have discovered a straightforward scapegoat in charge for the inefficiencies of their insurance policies when it comes to housing and tourism over the past 10, 15, 20 years”.
“For those who have a look at the over-tourism downside in Spain, it has been brewing for many years, and possibly for the reason that 60s,” he added.
Mr Rodríguez de Santiago famous that inns are nonetheless the main lodging for vacationers – with inns in Barcelona accounting for 20 million vacationers in 2024, in contrast with 12 million who used houses, based on native information.
He additionally identified Barcelona’s mayor Jaume Collboni backing the enlargement of town’s worldwide airport.
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Worldwide journey spending in Europe is predicted to rise by 11% to £617bn this 12 months, with Spain and France among the many nations set to obtain report numbers of vacationers.
Spain hosted a report 94 million worldwide guests in 2024, in contrast with 83 million in 2019. In line with research cited by its financial system minister, the nation might see as many as 100 million vacationers this 12 months.
