On Sunday, the 15th of June, thousands of people took to the streets of southern European cities again to protest against excessive tourism, firing water pistols and setting off smoke bombs in Barcelona, where the main protest took place, according to Reuters.
These are the latest in a series of protests against mass tourism that have been growing in recent years.
“Your holidays, our suffering,” chanted protesters in the streets of Barcelona, holding placards reading “mass tourism is killing the city” and “their greed is leading us to ruin”.
The SET alliance (Sud d’Europa contra la Turistització, which means Southern Europe against excessive tourism in Catalan) joined forces with groups in Portugal and Italy, pointing out that uncontrolled tourism causes a sharp rise in property prices and forces residents to leave their homes, increasing the cost of living and rendering city centres unusable.
Barcelona, home to 1.6 million people, was visited by 26 million tourists last year.
Barcelona authorities said that around 600 people took part in the protest, some of whom fired water pistols, set off coloured smoke bombs and stuck stickers on shop and hotel windows with the slogan “Neighbourhood self-defence, tourists go home!”.
Similar protests took place elsewhere in Spain, including Ibiza, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, San Sebastian and Granada.
Protests in Italy took place in cities such as Genoa, Naples, Palermo, Milan as well as Venice, where local residents oppose the construction of two hotels that will create around 1 500 new beds in the city, the organisers told Reuters.
Last year, Barcelona’s city council announced that it would ban tourist rentals until 2028 to make the city more liveable for residents.
“I’m tired of being a nuisance in my own city,” said a Barcelona resident who took part in the protest. She called for a reduction in the number of tourists and the introduction of a new economic model that would benefit city residents rather than forcing local people to move out of the city, rejecting the view that tourism always creates jobs and prosperity.
This year, spending by international travellers in Europe could increase by 11% to 838 billion US dollars, with Spain and France among the countries expecting record numbers of tourists.
The protest in Lisbon was planned for Sunday afternoon.
Protesters against overtourism take to the streets of southern European cities
