Thousands of people took to the streets of cities in southern Europe on Sunday to demonstrate against overtourism, firing water pistols at shop windows and setting off smoke in Barcelona, where the main protest took place. Meanwhile, World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has said on anti-tourism protests that tourism should not be blamed for wider issues like housing shortages, which often have complex, deep-rooted causes beyond the tourism sector’s influence.
“Your holidays, my misery,” protesters chanted in the streets of Barcelona while holding up banners emblazoned with slogans such as “mass tourism kills the city” and “their greed brings us ruin”.
Under the umbrella of the SET alliance – Sud d’Europa contra la Turistització, or Catalan for “Southern Europe against Overtourism” – protesters joined forces with groups in Portugal and Italy, arguing that uncontrolled tourism was sending housing prices soaring and forcing people out of their neighbourhoods.
Barcelona, a city of 1.6 million, drew 26 million tourists last year.
Authorities in the north eastern Spanish city said around 600 people joined the demonstration there, some firing water pistols or setting off coloured smoke and putting stickers saying ‘Neighbourhood self-defence, tourist go home’ on shop windows and hotels.
Outside one hotel, an agitated worker confronted the protesters saying he was “only working” and was not the venue’s owner.
There were similar demonstrations in other parts of Spain including Ibiza, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, San Sebastian and Granada. Protests in Italy took place in cities including Genoa, Naples, Palermo, Milan and Venice, where locals oppose the construction of two hotels that will add around 1,500 new beds to the city, the organisers told Reuters.
In Barcelona, the city government said last year it would bar apartment rentals to tourists by 2028 to make the city more liveable for residents.
“I’m very tired of being a nuisance in my own city. The solution is to propose a radical decrease in the number of tourists in Barcelona and bet on another economic model that brings prosperity to the city,” Eva Vilaseca, 38, told Reuters at Sunday’s demonstration in Barcelona, dismissing the common counterargument that tourism brings jobs and prosperity.
International travel spending in Europe is expected to rise by 11% to $838 billion this year, with Spain and France among the countries set to receive record numbers of tourists.
A protest in Lisbon was scheduled for later on Sunday afternoon.
Meanwhile, WTTC has said that Travel & Tourism brings significant economic benefits, not just for large travel corporations, but for local businesses and small companies that supply them. The sector creates employment and revenue from international and domestic visitors.
It should not be blamed for wider issues like housing shortages, which often have complex, deep-rooted causes beyond the sector’s influence. Travel & Tourism generates substantial tax revenues. Governments must engage with communities to ensure these funds are reinvested to meet local needs like improved infrastructure, WTTC said in statement.
WTTC supports responsible Travel & Tourism that benefits people and works with governments to help achieve it.
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