"Robbing us of our future": Spaniards demonstrate again against mass tourism
90 million tourists vacationed in the Mediterranean country in 2024. Travel providers and landlords profit handsomely from this – but the influx has many negative consequences for locals in the holiday regions.
Anger at mass tourism is driving many Spaniards to the streets. On Sunday, demonstrations against the social impact of the increasing influx of sun-seeking tourists began again in numerous cities and holiday regions. In Palma de Mallorca, thousands of people protested under the slogan "For the right to a dignified life. Let's stop touristification." In the Mediterranean metropolis of Barcelona, around 800 people protested with the slogan "Tourism is stealing our bread, our roof, and our future. Restrict tourism now!"
Thousands of people also protested for "less tourism, more life" on Ibiza , the Canary Islands of Lanzarote and Tenerife, and in holiday hotspots such as Valencia, Bilbao, Granada, and San Sebastian. Following the mass protests last summer, more than 140 citizens' initiatives across the country again called for the negative impact of tourism on the population to be denounced. They argue that it drives up rents, overloads urban infrastructure, and leads to garbage problems and water shortages.
In 2024, more than 90 million foreign visitors arrived in the country. Protesters are demanding a shift to sustainable tourism models. Their demands include imposing tourist caps in overcrowded areas, increasing tourist taxes to finance local infrastructure, and regulating and limiting short-term rentals. Spanish and foreign landlords often prefer to rent to tourists at higher prices, which has led to a housing shortage that has displaced many residents from their neighborhoods.
"Access to affordable housing is one of Spain's biggest social problems and is leading to the impoverishment of an increasing number of families. The reasons for this include, in addition to the lack of social housing, the explosion of tourist apartments," Fernando Fuentes, head of social affairs at the Spanish Bishops' Conference, told the Catholic News Agency (KNA).
This is also confirmed by recent surveys conducted by the state polling institute CIS. 28.4 percent of Spaniards consider the housing shortage even more critical than unemployment or the political situation. According to a report by the affordable housing organization Provivienda, 5.5 million households in Spain are currently affected by the housing shortage.
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