- More than 150 activist groups gathered in Barcelona on Saturday to protest overtourism.
- Footage showed protesters spraying tourists with water pistols and telling them to “go home”.
- Barcelona is battling overtourism, which residents blame for rising living costs.
Protesters have taken to the streets of Barcelona to condemn mass tourism, which they blame for soaring rental prices and making the city “unliveable”.
Several media outlets reported that thousands of protesters, including more than 150 organizations, marched in Barcelona on Saturday.
Photos showed protesters carrying placards reading: “Barcelona is not for sale” and “Tourists go home.”
Footage obtained by the BBC shows protesters using water pistols at people visiting popular tourist areas while chanting “Go home!”
Protesters also installed interdiction tape around some restaurants and hotels, as if to symbolically close the establishments.
Barcelona is a leading tourist destination that attracts millions of travelers each year thanks to its Mediterranean climate and unique culture. The Barcelona Tourism Observatory said the city welcomed 15.6 million tourists and the region nearly 26 million in 2023.
Although the influx of travelers brings money to Barcelona’s economy, it can also have negative effects such as increasing the local cost of living.
Rents in Barcelona and other popular cities like Madrid rose 18% in June from a year earlier, according to Reuters.
One protester told Reuters that “the city has completely turned towards tourists and what we want is a city for citizens and not one serving tourists” in recent years.
Another said that places frequented by tourists, such as restaurants and hotels, make a lot of money from tourists, but some locals “are in a very precarious situation and don’t have enough money to live. It’s a problem.”
One resident told AFP the town was suffering.
“I have nothing against tourism, but here in Barcelona we suffer from an excess of tourism that has made our city unlivable,” they said.
Representatives for Barcelona’s mayor, the city’s police department, and the tourism board did not respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.
Authorities in Barcelona have taken steps in recent months to combat overtourism, a problem that several popular tourist destinations, including Japan and Venice, are tackling.
The city raised its tourist tax in April, according to USA Today.
According to Bloomberg, they then announced plans to ban all short-term rentals in June.
“We need to increase the supply of housing and the measures we are presenting today are intended to increase the supply so that the working middle class is not forced to leave the city because they cannot afford housing,” said Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni. “This measure will not change the situation overnight. These problems take time. But with this measure we are marking a turning point.”
Barcelona has banned cruise ships from docking at any of its terminals until 2023 to combat overcrowding and pollution.
