Around the world, thousands of places have economies that revolve around tourism. For better or for worse, the lives of the local communities are deeply affected by the relentless influx of visitors.
It has now come to the point where many of the most sought-after tourist attractions are becoming overcrowded in such a fashion that is disrupting the life of the locals in an unacceptable way.
So, the reactions are multiplying.
Thousands of demonstrators marched through Barcelona over the weekend to manifest their anger at ‘mass tourism’ and its impacts on Spain’s most visited city.
Visitors dining in restaurants situated in the La Barceloneta neighborhood were soaked wet when some protesters sprayed them with water guns.
CBS News reported:
“Video showed diners being forced to change tables at some restaurants to escape the protests on Saturday, while other restaurants were symbolically taped off by the demonstrators.
Carrying banners reading “Tourists go home,” protesters called for a reduction in the number of foreign visitors to Barcelona, stopping in front of hotels and restaurants to confront tourists.
‘I have nothing against tourism, but here in Barcelona we are suffering from an excess of tourism that has made our city unlivable’, one of the demonstrators told the French news agency AFP.”
The cost of housing has risen 68% in the Spanish city in the last decade, and citizens are demanding a city designed for themselves, and not in service of the more than 12 million tourists that visited the city in 2023.
“The latest protest comes after similar large-scale demonstrations in other tourist hotspots across Spain. A protest in Málaga, in the southern part of the country, drew some 15,000 people to rally against over-tourism in June, while the island of Palma de Mallorca saw more than 10,000 people march against the impact of mass tourism in May.”
Between January and May 2024, 33 million tourists visited Spain, an increase of 13.6% compared to the 2023.
“Spain isn’t the only European nation grappling with the impact of tourism on the local population. Earlier this year, Venice, Italy became the first city to impose a fee on daily visitors.”
Read: NOT AN AMUSEMENT PARK: Japanese City of Kyoto Bars Tourists From Popular ‘Geisha District’
Euronews Reported:
“Around 3,000 people took to the streets of Barcelona on Saturday evening to protest against mass tourism in the city, according to local authorities.
More than 150 collectives, organizations and social movements took to the streets this weekend. The protesters shouted “tourists, go home” and symbolically sealed off hotels and restaurant terraces.
[…] Barcelona city council recently announced a radical plan to rid the city of its roughly 10,000 tourist flat licenses over the next five years.”
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