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 rising need for a balanced approach between tourism benefiting local economies, and ensuring the locals aren't sidelined from their own communities due to overtourism. Mass protests like the one witnessed in Palma, Majorca, are one of the strategies employed by local residents as an outcry against the devastating impacts of excessive tourism. Speaking to the Majorca Daily Bulletin, Margalida Ramis, a representative of an anti-protest group had this to say: "The truth is that we no longer need to campaign to raise people's awareness, but rather to take immediate and long-term measures.
" Tourist groups are threatening "guerrilla action" over overtourism in Sintra (Image: (Image: Getty)) However, she expressed "zero confidence" in ongoing negotiations and discussions aimed at mitigating the overtourism issue. Margalida claimed grimly that they can "already see in which way it is heading". She further highlighted that the spillover effects of overtourism were proving detrimental to both locals and tourists.
Many potential visitors are said to being discouraged by the overcrowded nature of these tourist hotspots. Margalida said candidly: "Many people are already stopping coming when they see how saturated the island is. It is not we who are destroying tourism, it is they themselves.
" Margalida and her group remain hopeful that by altering the narrative around overtourism, sustainable solutions may be found. This would ideally result in regions able to reap economic benefits from tourists without becoming overwhelmed by them..
