Last month, thousands of residents took to the streets in Barcelona to protest against mass tourism and its consequences. “Enough! Let’s set limits to tourism!” were among the many slogans emblazoned on placards. Some were even more blunt: “Tourists go home.
You are not welcome.” The captions were conveniently in English, so there wouldn’t be a language barrier in driving the message home to their target audience. There are similar sentiments in other Spanish tourist destinations, from Málaga to Majorca, with residents even squirting tourists with water guns to express their frustration and anger.
In Spain, the tourism industry has caused a rise in real estate prices, environmental pollution, parking problems, traffic congestion and water shortage. In Barcelona, as more and more apartments have been converted into vacation homes, rents have risen by 68% over the past decade, pricing residents out of the housing market. The housing shortage is at the heart of the protests in Málaga.
“One more tourist, one neighbour less” screamed their banners there. In the historic city of Cadiz, residents complain mass tourism has turned their home into “an amusement park.” In Majorca, the ire is directed against “drunkards and party-goers.
” Thousands of families, seniors and students marched through the streets, saying “Majorca is not for sale.” All this is happening against a backdrop of “record tourist numbers”, set to increase even further, aggravating.