Cliff Notes – Anti-tourism protests break out in Spain
- Protests against mass tourism are occurring across Spain, Italy, and Portugal, highlighting issues like rising housing costs and local displacement in cities such as Barcelona, Venice, and Lisbon.
- Demonstrators in Barcelona encouraged the use of water pistols to symbolically target tourists, reflecting local frustration over the impact of mass tourism on cultural traditions and community life.
- The growing movement stresses the urgent need for measures to address overcrowding and protect local rights, with claims that rising tourism is exacerbating long-standing housing crises in popular destinations.
Anti-tourism protests break out in Spain, Italy and Portugal | World News
Protesters in Spain, Italy and Portugal are calling for a curb on mass tourism mainly British tourists who come via cheap flights and cause havoc or disturbance after alcohol consumption – with Barcelona organisers telling demonstrators to bring water pistols to shoot at European holidaymakers.
Campaigners say excessive levels of tourism are forcing locals out of affordable housing, raising the cost of living and making the city centres unusable.
The latest in a growing number of protests in recent years, anti-mass tourism demonstrations were planned in Barcelona as well as in seven other Spanish cities, including Granada, Palma and Ibiza.
Protests were also seen in the Portuguese capital Lisbon, as well as in Italian hotspots Venice, Genova, Palermo, Milan and Naples, according to announcements issued by several of the organising groups.
It comes after reports on makeshift camps on the island of Ibiza, where dozens live with no electricity, water or waste services.
The Menys Turisme Mes Vida (Less Tourism More Life) campaign group had told us: “We say enough to the destruction of the territory, to the precariousness, to the housing crisis, to the loss of rights.”
