Protesters in Barcelona chanted, “Your holidays, my misery,” while displaying banners with messages such as “mass tourism destroys the city” and “their greed leads us to ruin.” United under the SET alliance – Sud d’Europa contra la Turistització, which translates to “Southern Europe against Overtourism” in Catalan – they joined forces with groups from Portugal and Italy, claiming that unchecked tourism was driving up housing costs and displacing local residents.
Last year, Barcelona, home to 1.6 million residents, attracted 26 million tourists.
Authorities in the northeastern Spanish city reported that approximately 600 participants attended the demonstration, some using water pistols or releasing colored smoke while placing stickers that read ‘Neighbourhood self-defense, tourists go home’ on shop windows and hotels.
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One distressed hotel worker confronted demonstrators, stating he was “just doing my job” and wasn’t the owner’s representative.
Similar protests occurred in other Spanish cities including Ibiza, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, San Sebastian, and Granada. In Italy, protests unfolded in cities like Genoa, Naples, Palermo, Milan, and Venice, where locals oppose the construction of two hotels adding around 1,500 new beds to the city, as reported by organizers to Reuters.
In Barcelona, the city government announced last year that it would prohibit apartment rentals to tourists by 2028 to enhance livability for its residents.
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“I’m exhausted from being a nuisance in my city. The solution is to significantly reduce the number of tourists in Barcelona and focus on a different economic model that promotes the city’s prosperity,” Eva Vilaseca, 38, shared with Reuters during Sunday’s protest in Barcelona, rejecting the common argument that tourism creates jobs and wealth.
International travel spending in Europe is projected to increase by 11% to $838 billion this year, with Spain and France anticipated to receive record tourist numbers.
(Edited by : Jerome Anthony)
First Published: Jun 15, 2025 9:37 PM IST
