Protest against tourism on a large scale for summer vacation season is resumed. In recent years, large-scale anti-tourism performance has often occurred in Italy, Portugal and specially in Hotspot in Spain. The alliance of activists and campaigners who created Sir Dey Europa Contra La Turistsisen (Southern Europe against tourism) has once again been called for mass demonstrations to be in other places in Venice, Lisbon, San Sabstian, Valencia and Bayeric Islands, on 15 June.
Group members recently met for a conference in Barcelona, which to discuss the problem of overturism, which according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization usually definitely defines that local people or visitors feel that tourism has obtained the quality of life unacceptable degrees.
This is a case for many people in Barcelona, where there have been large -scale demonstrations with thousands of participants in recent years. Therefore, the mixture has a strategy to catch the strategy involving water guns. In 2024, the protesters in Barcelona immersed unwanted tourists who dined with the popular Prize of Las Ramblas to draw attention to the problem of overturism. This worked – a media was harassed, as many other incidents involved in water guns, which have become a symbol of the fight against overturism in Barcelona. In April, for example, activists blocked a tour bus parked in front of Sagarda Familia – one of the top attractions in the city – and soaked tourists shocked with water guns. The mantras of “touring tourists go home” were heard in the air.
“The kind of tourism we have in Barcelona today is not compatible with the life of the local population,” DNIL Pardo, a member of the Neberuds Assembly told DW for Daniel Pardo, Tourism Degoth (Assembly de Barris Pale Decision Turistic). Pardo has been involved in organizing anti -tourism campaigns for years. He and other large -scale want to prevent tourism development, which they say that resulted in noise roads, air pollution and congestion in his city. “The moment when finding a balaclicate is cool when a long time to an end.”
Pardo specifies that not only is there a large-scale opposing tourism, but also about going against a “tourism-first culture” that prefer the tourism industry on the quality of many local people.
Employment creation – at what cost?
Around 30 million tourists visit Barcelona in a year, a city that is a home of about 1.7 million people. The majority came from Italy, France, United Kingdom and Germany, followed by the United States. According to city officials, the tourism industry produces about 14% of the city’s GDP and supports 150,000 jobs. “Yes, it is always used as an argument as to why we should not complain,” Pardo says. “But we are still complaining!” Many jobs in tourism are prevalent with an indefinite labor condition with Wiles which are below the average. “Ultimately, dependence on tourism increases the population,” hey says.
The level of despair on the Spanish island Mallorca is so high. Like Barcelona, there will be a demonstration in the capital of Palma under the motto on 15 June: “For the right to a dignified life: let’s stop tourism.” Other popular holiday locations have been so criticized by other popular holiday locations on Balleric Islands, as well as in Andalusia, in Basque country and canary islands that they see as a “tourism-first” mentality that are taking to their cities.
Local people took out
But the short -term fare market is only one aspect of tourism. In some Spanish holiday cities, traditional retail is therefore disappearing. It is becoming easier to find an ice cream parlor or souvenir store than a bakery or supermarket. As a result, the locals feel isolated and are moving away. “Tourism is taking us out of our homes, villages and neighborhoods,” the Spanish groups write on their website on their website to protest on 15 June.
In 2024, citizens around Spain took to the streets to protest against a large -scale tourism, yet despite the backlash – and the water gun splashes – tourists are not to separate from going to Spain. In fact, the country is predicting a record number of tourists in 2025.
In 2024, around 94 million international passengers came to the country, making it the second most popular tourist destination in the world after France. For recent studies by Tourism Lobby Group Exceltur, despite the ongoing housing crisis, the number of short -term fares in Spain has increased by 25% in the last two years.
However, the government has recently formed some to reduce overtorism. In recent months, there are strict regulation of holiday rental. In Madrid, the central government recently made it mandatory for short -term rent providers to register its assets in a newly created database in an attempt to stop illegal proposals. And in mid -May, the Ministry of Spanish Consumer Protection ordered AirBNB to remove around 65,000 apartment listings, which did not include the required registration number.
City officials make some changes
In the last June, Barcelona’s city council announced that it would terminate the short -term holiday fare by 2028, and that the license would not be renewed after they are finished. Nevertheless, for better or worse, tourism is one of the main pillars of Barcelona’s economy. City officials say the development of the region has played an important role in the economic revival of the city.
However, city officials responsible for tourism, Jordy Walls, admitted that tourism in Barcelona could not continue to grow at the current pace. “We are reaching our limits,” hey says.
Activist Daniel Pardo admitted that “at least no politician dare to call openly for the development of the city”. But he explains that more concrete action should be taken to reduce the problem and improve the lives of the residents. “We need a real debate about the boundaries of tourism,” hey says. The upcoming opposition, he expects, wants to see the debate soon.
This article was translated from German.
