Barcelona & Mallorca Protest: Tourists Targeted Amidst Over tourism Crisis. Demonstrators used water guns to highlight the impact of overtourism, demanding economic reform to address soaring housing costs and the loss of local character in popular Spanish destinations. Thousands rallied across Spain, Italy, and Portugal, uniting against the negative effects of mass tourism
Southern Europe's top tourist destinations saw a coordinated protest against overtourism, with activists marching in Barcelona, Mallorca, Venice, and Lisbon. Demonstrators, concerned about the negative impacts of mass tourism on housing and local culture, used water guns to highlight their fight to reclaim their cities from the overwhelming influx of visitors. This marks the first large-scale, multi-city effort to address the growing crisis of overtourism
Thousands protest overtourism in Mallorca, leading a Europe-wide demonstration against rising housing costs and the displacement of residents. Hundreds more joined simultaneous rallies in other Spanish cities, Venice, and Lisbon, highlighting a growing movement against the negative impacts of mass tourism in Southern Europe
Barcelona residents fight back against overtourism with playful protests, using water guns to reclaim their city from the overwhelming influx of 15.5 million annual visitors. Demonstrators argue that the current economic model, prioritizing tourism over residents' needs, is driving up housing costs and erasing local culture, forcing long-term residents out. This coordinated protest, part of a wider Southern European movement, highlights the growing struggle to balance tourism with the well-being of local communities
Barcelona Overwhelm: Resident Fights Back Against Tourism Boom. A 42-year-old administrative assistant, Andreu Martínez, joins growing protests against overtourism in Barcelona, a city grappling with 15.5 million annual visitors. He blames the influx, drawn to landmarks like Sagrada Familia and Las Ramblas, for a 30% rent increase and the displacement of local businesses. Martínez and fellow protesters are fighting to reclaim their city from the impacts of unchecked tourism
Barcelona resident Andreu Martínez's rent has skyrocketed over 30% due to the surge in short-term tourist rentals. This overtourism, he explains, is transforming his neighborhood, replacing local shops with tourist-oriented businesses like souvenir shops and fast-food chains, forcing long-term residents out. The displacement highlights the growing concerns about the impact of mass tourism on Barcelona's affordability and unique character
Barcelona residents face displacement due to unchecked tourism, forcing lifelong locals from their homes amid rising rents and the proliferation of tourist-oriented businesses. The systematic pressure is pushing many out, highlighting the urgent need for a more balanced approach to tourism in the city
Mallorca Over tourism Protest: 5,000 rally against soaring housing costs and the impact of mass tourism on Palma, using water pistols to playfully target tourists while chanting "Everywhere you look, all you see are tourists." The demonstration highlights the Balearic island's struggle with short-term rentals and the displacement of residents
Simultaneous protests against overtourism also took place in Granada, San Sebastián, and Ibiza, drawing hundreds of additional demonstrators
Venice Over tourism Protest: Activists Demand Hotel Moratorium, Fight Evictions. Demonstrators in Venice protested against new hotel construction, highlighting the displacement of residents, including the eviction of an elderly woman from her historic center home. The protest, featuring a banner demanding a halt to new hotel beds, targeted two recently completed hotels
‘That’s lovely’
Barcelona OverTourism Protest: Residents Fight Back with Water Guns and Stickers. Demonstrators targeted tourists with water pistols and "Tourist Go Home" stickers, protesting soaring rents and the displacement of locals due to mass tourism. The Catalan capital saw hundreds march alongside other European cities in a coordinated anti-overtourism movement
Barcelona Protest: Tourists Targeted Amidst Housing Crisis Demonstration. Tensions flared as anti-tourism protesters in Barcelona confronted hostel workers, using water guns, firecrackers, and pink smoke. One worker retaliated by spitting at demonstrators and slamming the hostel doors shut. This incident highlights the escalating conflict over overtourism and its impact on local residents' housing and livelihoods
Barcelona Protests: Tourists Targeted with Water Guns Amidst Overtourism Concerns. American tourists Wanda and Bill Dorozenski experienced a playful, albeit unexpected, encounter during a Barcelona demonstration against overtourism, receiving a refreshing water gun spray on the city's luxury shopping boulevard during the 83°F (28.3°C) heat
Barcelona Protester Explains Water Gun Tactics Amidst Overtourism Crisis: "It's a personal fight," said Wanda, acknowledging the disruptive water gun protests targeting tourists in Barcelona. These actions, she explained, highlight the devastating impact of overtourism on the city, pushing out residents and erasing local character
There were also many marchers with water guns who didn’t fire at bystanders and instead solely used them to spray themselves to keep cool.
Crackdown on Airbnb
Cities across the world are struggling with how to cope with mass tourism and a boom in short-term rental platforms, like Airbnb, but perhaps nowhere has surging discontent been so evident as in Spain, where protesters in Barcelona first took to firing squirt guns at tourists during a protest last summer.
There has also been a confluence of the pro-housing and anti-tourism struggles in Spain, whose 48 million residents welcomed record 94 million international visitors in 2024. When thousands marched through the streets of Spain’s capital in April, some held homemade signs saying “Get Airbnb out of our neighborhoods.”
Spanish authorities are striving to show they hear the public outcry while not hurting an industry that contributes 12% of gross domestic product.
Last month, Spain’s government ordered Airbnb to remove almost 66,000 holiday rentals from the platform that it said had violated local rules.
Spain’s Consumer Rights Minister Pablo Bustinduy told The Associated Press shortly after the crackdown on Airbnb that the tourism sector “cannot jeopardize the constitutional rights of the Spanish people,” which enshrines their right to housing and well-being. Carlos Cuerpo, the economy minister, said in a separate interview that the government is aware it must tackle the unwanted side effects of mass tourism.
The boldest move was made by Barcelona’s town hall, which stunned Airbnb and other services who help rent properties to tourists by announcing last year the elimination of all 10,000 short-term rental licenses in the city by 2028.
That sentiment was back in force on Sunday, where people held up signs saying “Your Airbnb was my home.”
‘Taking away housing’
The short-term rental industry, for its part, believes it is being treated unfairly.
“I think a lot of our politicians have found an easy scapegoat to blame for the inefficiencies of their policies in terms of housing and tourism over the last 10, 15, 20 years,” Airbnb’s general director for Spain and Portugal, Jaime Rodríguez de Santiago recently told the AP.
That argument either hasn’t trickled down to the ordinary residents of Barcelona, or isn’t resonating.
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Txema Escorsa, a teacher in Barcelona, doesn’t just oppose Airbnb in his home city, he has ceased to use it even when traveling elsewhere, out of principle.
“In the end, you realize that this is taking away housing from people,” he said.
AP Videojournalist Hernán Múñoz in Barcelona, and Associated Press writer Colleen Barry in Venice, Italy, contributed.
Source: Original Article