Spaniards wield water pistols against tourism amid housing crisis
Cities both in Spain and around the world are struggling with overtourism and a boom in short-term rental platforms like Airbnb
In Barcelona’s residential Gràcia neighbourhood, known for its quaint squares, Txema Escorsa feels he is being left behind.
The friendly faces of neighbours in his block of flats have been replaced by a non-stop flow of hard-partying foreigners, and his teacher’s salary cannot keep pace with the rising rent.
“It is tough for me to imagine what to do next,” he said in the living room of his two-bedroom flat. “If I leave, will I be contributing to Barcelona losing its essence that comes from its locals? But there comes a time when I’m fed up.”
Escorsa, 33, is just one of many residents who believe tourism has gone too far in the city famed for Antoni Gaudi’s La Sagrada Familia basilica and the Las Ramblas promenade, running roughshod over communities and exacerbating a housing crisis.
It is not just a Spanish problem. Cities across the world are struggling with how to cope with overtourism and a boom in short-term rental platforms, such as Airbnb, but perhaps nowhere has surging discontent been so evident as in Barcelona, where protesters plan to take to the streets on Sunday.
Similar demonstrations are planned in several other Spanish cities, including on the Balearic Islands of Mallorca and Ibiza, as well as in the Italian postcard city of Venice, Portugal’s capital Lisbon and other cities across southern Europe – marking the first time a protest against tourism has been coordinated across the region.