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In the summer in Spain, in many city streets, the sound of suitcase wheels replaces the roar of cars. Demonstrations continue in Spain against foreign holidaymakers to the point where tourists have attacked each other with water pistols on restaurant terraces in Barcelona by exasperated locals.
On La Rambla, one of the most touristic and emblematic streets of the Catalan capital, nearly 3,000 people marched on Saturday at the call of more than a hundred neighborhood associations. “No matter where you look, there are only tourists,” chanted a crowd on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
The most visited region in Spain, Catalonia welcomed 18 million holidaymakers last year. In total, more than 85 million tourists flocked to this side of the Pyrenees in 2023. In the land of Cervantes, the sector represents 12.8% of GDP and 12.6% of jobs.
“Homeowners are speculative to the detriment of lives, people and the city,” says Daniel Pardo, a member of the assembly of neighbourhoods for the decline in tourism in Barcelona, where the entire city is affected by the phenomenon of overtourism. “The right to housing is a fundamental right enshrined in all charters, including the human rights charter.” Is Spain a victim of its own success? Anger is brewing in the major tourist destinations: beyond Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, the Canaries and the large Andalusian cities can’t take it anymore.
Furthermore, the people of Barcelona are finding it increasingly difficult to compete with the purchasing power of tourists or so-called “digital nomads”, foreigners who settle down for a few months to work remotely in Spain and drive up prices.
Rent prices have increased by 68% in ten years and the price per square meter is over 4,500 euros, one of the most expensive in Europe.
“There is no regulation,” laments Daniel Pardo, who claims that residents are being evicted and that “each of us who live in these neighborhoods suffers to one degree or another from tourist violence.” Gonzalo Fuentes, responsible for tourism at the Workers’ Commission Union (CCOO), qualifies this by stating that “there is no tourismophobia.” He points out that “Spain is a country that has been used to welcoming the world for over 60 years. The problem is simply housing for local residents. We need to reestablish dialogue. There is no regulation.”
Algerians penalized
Algerians who make Spain an ideal destination for their holidays found themselves confronted with the increase in accommodation prices in hotels or on the Airbnb platform. “Hotel rooms in Barcelona, near the Gothic Quarter or Plaça d’el Espana are overpriced, at no less than 170 euros per night in summer,” Hamida, 59, who came with her husband to visit the Catalan capital, told Le Jeune Indépendant.
“Before Corona, you could easily spend 15 days with a budget of 1,500 euros, today this budget does not even cover the costs of a week in a decent hotel,” she added, explaining that she refuses AirBnb formulas which generally require the tenant to stay with the owner.
As a result, many Algerians avoid the Catalan capital and prefer Alicante or Andalusia. But this is not the case for Algerian students living in Barcelona. Many find themselves forced to submit to the dictates of the market, whether for shared accommodation or to rent a small studio. “You really have to look in neighborhoods far from the city center or in working-class areas with high immigration to find a studio at a reasonable price but with modest comfort,” said Salim, who has been studying in Barcelona for two years.
Aware of the problem, the Spanish central government is preparing a law to limit tourist accommodation.
Mallorca, the largest of the Balearic Islands, has also been the scene of several anti-tourism rallies by residents who feel their future is under threat. The protest movement against mass tourism is growing in the Balearic Islands.
“In one day, up to a million people come here! It’s unbearable,” says Maria, a young protester. “They erase our identity and push us out, because they bought everything! They say that Majorca lives off tourism? No, tourism lives off us, and it’s killing us!”
Mallorca, the largest island in the archipelago, is home to just under a million people. This year it expects to welcome around 20 million visitors, an absolute record, which represents an economic boon.
The “all-inclusive” formulas of the big hotel chains, or the cruise companies whose giant ships dock every day in the port of Palma de Mallorca, the capital, even have the opposite effect on part of the local trade. On Sunday, Palma de Mallorca hosted a major demonstration against mass tourism, bringing together nearly 10,000 people, according to the authorities.
The protesters, armed with model planes and cruise ships, marched through the streets of the Balearic capital, holding placards reading “No to mass tourism” and “Stop private jets”. By our correspondent Majda Khellaf