Thousands Protest Against Overtourism in Southern Europe: Barcelona Residents Fight Back with Water Pistols

Citizens from Spain, Italy, and France have taken to the streets once again to protest against the mass tourism affecting their countries. Demonstrators in Spain marched through Ibiza, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, San Sebastian, and Granada chanting the slogan ‘your holidays, my torment’ while holding banners with messages such as ‘mass tourism is killing the city’ and ‘their greed is destroying us.’ Under the umbrella of the alliance SET – Sud d’Europa contra la Turistització (‘Southern Europe Against Overtourism’), protesters joined forces with groups in Portugal and Italy, arguing that uncontrolled tourism has skyrocketed housing prices and forced people out of their neighborhoods. Barcelona, a city of 1.6 million residents, attracted 26 million tourists last year. Authorities in the northeastern Spanish city reported around 600 people participated in the protest there, some armed with water pistols, others with smoke flares, and some placing stickers on shop windows and hotel buildings reading ‘neighborhood in self-defense, tourists go away.’ In Barcelona, the city council announced last year the closure of all short-term rentals until 2028, aiming to make the city more sustainable for its residents. In Italy, demonstrators flooded Genoa, Naples, Palermo, Milan, and Venice, where locals oppose the construction of two hotels that would add about 1,500 new beds to the city, according to organizers speaking to Reuters. A protest also took place in the evening in Lisbon. International travel spending in Europe is expected to rise by 11% this year, reaching $83.8 billion, with Spain and France among the countries expected to welcome record numbers of tourists.