Poles’ Favorite Country Is Tired of Tourists: “My City Is Not an Amusement Park”

The global pandemic has brought the world to a halt for a moment. It was predicted that once the coronavirus subsides, we will experience a huge revolution in travel and that tourism will be much more sustainable. It quickly turned out that these predictions had little to do with reality. Popular regions are experiencing a record siege.

It would seem that this has many advantages, especially since tourism is an extremely important economic sector for many countries. As it turns out, however, there are groups that are starting to be very bothered by the mass influx of travelers and are expressing this more and more loudly.

More tourists than residents

Spain is one of the most popular countries for tourists from all over the world.. In the first half of 2024, the Iberian Peninsula received nearly 42.5 million travelerswhich according to the National Statistical Institute means an increase of over 13% compared to the same period in 2023.

The disproportion is visible to the naked eye. The Canary Islands, which are permanently inhabited by around 2.2 million people, were visited by over 16 million tourists last year. Only 2 million fewer tourists chose the Balearic Islands as their destination. This group included as many as 4.6 million Germans and 3.4 million Britons, as well as a lot of Poles.

Spaniards have had enough. Protests against mass tourism

At the same time, more and more events are organized on the streets of Spanish cities. protests against so-called overtourism. The organization Canarias Se Agota went a step further, with its members conducting a hunger strike to draw the attention of local authorities to their demands.

The demonstrators complain about the huge housing problems and the increase in prices in shops resulting from the huge interest in their country. They also mention, among other things, the destruction of the environment and the scandalous behavior of some tourists. The same complaints appear everywhere – from the Canary Islands, through the Balearic Islands, to Seville, Barcelona and Malaga.

The influx of tourists brings huge benefits to the Spanish budget – Foreign arrivals have already left over 43.2 billion euroswhich is 21.8 percent more than a year ago.

However, this does not convince the protesters. Pere Joan Fermenia, representing the platform “Menys turisme, menys vida” explains that although a large part of the inhabitants live from tourism, due to the lack of redistribution of wealth, they do not actually get richer.

– The average Spaniard does not benefit from mass tourism, because all the money flows to online platforms or the owners of large hotels – he emphasizes.

Airbnb vs. Locals

Protesters most often raise the issue of housing problems. The huge increase in popularity of services such as Airbnb has made short-term rentals very profitable. It has also caused a huge increase in prices, because owners find it more profitable to allocate premises for tourists than for residents.

– We simply can’t afford to live in the center of Barcelona. We had to move to the outskirts, even though it now takes us almost an hour to get to work – complain 32-year-olds Juan Martin Lopez and Ana Valesco. – If it continues like this, the center will be completely extinct and we, the native inhabitants, will be completely pushed out – the woman adds, emphasizing that the influx of tourists has also caused prices in stores to skyrocket. – And our wages are stagnant – she points out.

“My neighborhood is not an amusement park”

The problem is also the destruction of the natural environment. The Asociación Tinerfeña de Amigos de la Naturaleza group has drawn attention to the fact that tourist infrastructure, such as golf courses or swimming pools, consume huge amounts of water, which is decreasing due to drought caused by climate change. This in turn translates into problems for farmers, who will have increasingly difficult time irrigating their fields.

Some also believe that the influx of tourists is destroying local communities. – My neighborhood, my city is not an amusement park. There used to be a lot of local bars in the area, everyone knew each other, we met almost every day. Now it’s all about nameless chains that I don’t even want to go to, says 72-year-old Jose Antonio from Barcelona’s Eixample district, famous for its numerous hotels and apartments for rent.

Are the guests themselves to blame?

Mari Carmen Pelegrina from Malaga also draws attention to noise generated by tourists. – This is particularly troublesome at the end of the week or in the case of hen or stag parties. Visitors organize parties in apartments without considering that there are people nearby who have to get up for work in the morning or have small children and want to rest. In addition, they produce huge amounts of rubbish, sometimes also destroying staircases and the surrounding area – he adds.

Peter DeBrine of the UNESCO Sustainable Tourism Project also believes that the behavior of tourists is adding fuel to the fire. “It’s not just about the number of visitors, but also their behavior.” For years, Spaniards have been complaining about tourists abusing alcohol., they litter, they start fights in the streets. In addition, some people are destroying the natural environment in their pursuit of the perfect selfie. If officials do not deal with the problem quickly, the protests will spread to other cities and there will be more and more of them – he warns, adding that “the frustration of residents does not surprise him at all”.

– Let’s put ourselves in the shoes of people who have trouble finding a flat because all the flats are suddenly available for short-term rental. It’s no wonder they are protesting against such a situation – he comments.

Cancelled reservations. “Will it be safe?”

Reports of protests in Barcelona, ​​Malaga and the Balearic Islands have caused concern among some tourists. A wave of outrage was sparked by signs in German that appeared on several buildings in Palma. The slogan “Tourismus macht frei” was interpreted as an allusion to the Nazi “Arbeit macht frei” that was placed above the gates to concentration camps.

British tabloids stirred up emotions by publishing articles with ominous-sounding headlines suggesting that “Spain declares war on tourists”. As a result, employees of tourist facilities, especially in Majorca and Ibiza, were flooded with calls from people asking “if they will definitely be safe on holiday”.

Some travelers were so scared by the protests that they canceled their vacations. According to AirDNA, a company that researches the travel rental market, bookings in Palma de Mallorca fell 8% year-on-year in July. However, bookings in other Spanish regions increased during that time.

The Germans, of whom there are many in Spain, took a much calmer approach to the action. On August 11, protesters appeared on the popular Balneari 6 beach in Majorca, called Ballermann by our neighbours, with banners reading: “Mallorca is not the 17th state”. In response, some German tourists began playing German hits from their phones in a counter-demonstration.

“We won’t see scenes from France in Spain”

Meanwhile, protesters emphasize at every turn that their demonstrations are peaceful and not aimed at tourists, but at the actions of the authorities. They assure that there will be no signs of aggression, hostility or aversion towards tourists. So far, the only gesture against tourists is spraying people sitting in garden cafes with water from toy guns.

– No one is in danger. We won’t see the familiar images from France on the streets of Spainwhere entire cities are being demolished and set on fire. The slogans “tourists go home” are just slogans, there will definitely be no acts of violence – assures Franco Atacama, who is involved in the protests in the Balearic Islands. He adds that the demonstrators do not blame tourists, but the government for the lack of a long-term strategy on how to deal with so-called overtourism.

Minister grabs his head: Opposition is irresponsibility

At the same time, there are many voices that the protesters are only a small handful. However, these are not coming from residents tired of the hustle and bustle, but from entrepreneurs and politicians. The deputy head of the Asociacion de Profesionales de Viviendas y Apartamentos Turísticos de Andalucia (an association of those renting premises and apartments for tourists in Andalusia – ed.) admitted that he “does not understand how one can protest against something that brings the city huge profits.”

– This is irresponsible, to say the least. Tourism brings the city huge profits, which are then used to finance, among other things, public services. It’s good that those who take to the streets are only a noisy minority – stated Juan Cubo.

Jordi Hereu, Minister of Industry and Tourism, spoke in a similar tone. The politician described the protests against mass tourism as “reprehensible”. Jorge Marichal went a step further. CEHAT (Spanish Association of Hotels and Tourist Accommodation) said that “the demonstrators are not very intelligent and do not respect how much visitors mean to the Spanish economy”.

Mass Tourism in the Balearic Islands. How to Solve the Problem?

So what should we do to make sure the wolf is satiated and the sheep is whole? The most important requirement is to immediately ending short-term rentals via services such as Airbnb so that they are no longer profitable. The idea has already been greenlit.

The mayor of Barcelona, ​​Jaume Collboni, announced that the city will no longer issue permits by 2028. Almost 10,000 apartments that can currently be found on popular websites are to be put on the market and go to normal rentals. The mayor of Valencia, María José Catalá, also announced a suspension of issuing permits.

The organizations responsible for the protests also propose significant increasing climate fees or even introducing additional fees for entering the cityThe funds obtained in this way would be used to protect cultural monuments or the natural environment.

Such fees are already in force. For example, in Barcelona you have to pay 3.25 euros or 4 euros if you are in the city for less than 12 hours. This higher fee is a reaction to the tourist traffic from so-called large cruise ships. From October, these fees will be increased. The Balearic authorities also collect a city tax of 1 to 4 euros per night.

Activists also proposed that Local authorities in the Canary Islands have introduced limits on the number of people who can visit the islands each year. This idea caused a wave of indignation among the hotel and catering industry, for which such restrictions would mean huge losses. After a wave of negative comments, it was suggested that the restrictions should apply only to certain months, in order to spread tourist traffic throughout the year.

It is not yet known whether these solutions will gain acceptance from local authorities and the majority of society. Only one thing is certain: we are in for a very hot time (and not only in terms of weather).