Residents of one of Europe's most picturesque towns are threatening "guerilla action" over the influx of tourists. The Portuguese town of Sintra was once hailed as a "glorious Eden" and "the most delightful [town] in Europe" by the renowned poet Lord Byron. But now it has been branded "tourist hell" by locals with thousands of visitors descending on the area eager to soak up its charm.
Sintra joins a growing list of European towns, cities, and villages pushing back against the post-pandemic surge of tourists descending on the continent. British local Sarah Hemmings, speaking to The Times about the city's major issue of traffic, revealed that the situation has escalated to such an extent that journeys aren't merely doubled but quintupled in length. She said: "It's very frightening thinking.
..if there was a fire or emergency and an ambulance needed to get through.
It takes me two to three hours to do a 20-minute round trip to the nearest shop." A protest group has also voiced their discontent, arguing that Sintra has been transformed into a "congested amusement park" that is leaving it "without inhabitants" and is "not the path to quality tourism". While tourist hotspots like Sintra in Portugal and Palma in Spain don't object to the presence of tourists as such, it's the sheer volume and the impact on the local economy that locals take issue with.
Locals have complained about the high number of tourists and their impact on traffic (stock) (Image: (Image: Getty)) There's a risin.