Tourists dining in Barcelona were drenched with water guns by angry crowds of anti-tourism protesters marching down the main boulevards.
Several thousand demonstrators rallied through hot spots including the famous La Rambla, carrying banners that said “Tourism kills the city.” and “Dear Tourist: Balconing is fun!” – alluding to the practice of jumping from hotel balconies into swimming pools, which often ends in serious injuries for intoxicated tourists.
Some of the demonstrators called out insults at tourists who took photographs of the march, while others taped off hotels and restaurants in a symbolic protest at over-tourism in the Catalan capital.
The use of water guns by some protesters against onlooking tourists prompted heated verbal exchanges, but order was maintained by police escorting the march.
Some diners, including families, were forced to leave their tables that looked onto the street where the protesters were gathering.
Barcelona police said 2,800 people had taken part in the demonstration but organisers claimed seven times that number were in attendance.
According to city council figures, Barcelona last year received more than 12 million tourists, 81 per cent of whom were from outside of Spain.
They spent a massive €9.6 billion (£8.1 billion) in the city, but many locals have concluded that the overall impact of so many visitors is warping the local economy to their detriment.
Some protesters on Saturday chanted “Tourists out of our neighbourhoods”. The rise of tourism rental properties is partly blamed for a 61 per cent rise in property prices between 2013 and 2023 across the city.
Jaume Collboni, the mayor of Barcelona, took to social media at the time of Saturday’s demonstration to assure citizens of his council team’s “firm commitment to limiting mass tourism and its consequences”.
Mr Collboni, a Socialist, pointed to his plan to ban Airbnb-style rental properties by 2028. There are currently 10,000 licensed tourism apartments and an association representing owners has vowed to challenge his plan in the courts.
The mayor also said the city’s tourism tax would rise from €5.50 (£4.60) per night to €7.50 (£6.35).
Barcelona becomes the latest Spanish tourism hotspot to have witnessed public protest this year against the impact of millions of visitors on locals’ quality of life.
In Málaga last month, 15,000 people marched against overtourism in a city where licenced tourism apartments have swelled to 12,000 from less than 1,000 in 2016.
In Palma de Mallorca, more than 10,000 marched in May against the lack of affordable housing due to the impact of tourism.
In April, some 55,000 people took part in the biggest-ever demonstrations against tourism in the major capital cities across the Canary Islands archipelago.
Spain received a record 85 million foreign visitors in 2023, an increase of 18.7 per cent from the previous year, according to the country’s National Statistics Institute. Only France received a higher number of international visitors.
Figures from the first months of 2024 suggest that Spain is on course to set another record this year.
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