Barcelona, Jun 16 (AP) In an unusual protest on Sunday, demonstrators in Barcelona and on the Spanish island of Mallorca used water guns against tourists to voice concerns over an economic approach they argue is exacerbating housing shortages and diluting the local character of their cities.
The protests signified the first coordinated movement by activists targeting overtourism, an issue plaguing popular destinations across southern Europe. Mallorca witnessed the largest turnout, with several thousand participants, while hundreds also marched in Spanish cities as well as in Venice, Italy, and Lisbon, Portugal.
Andreu Martínez, a 42-year-old administrative assistant in Barcelona, squirted tourists at a café, explaining, “The squirt guns are to annoy the tourists a bit. Barcelona has been handed to the tourists. This is a fight to give Barcelona back to its residents.” With Barcelona, a city of 1.7 million people, attracting 15.5 million visitors last year, Martínez is among those who feel tourism has spiraled out of control. He noted how rental prices have surged by over 30% in his area, with more apartments being transformed into short-term tourist accommodations.
“Our lives, as lifelong residents of Barcelona, are coming to an end," Martínez lamented. "We are being pushed out systematically.” Palma, Mallorca's capital, saw around 5,000 marchers, some armed with water guns, chanting “Everywhere you look, all you see are tourists.” Though the water squirting was mostly taken in good humor by tourists, the island has faced severe housing cost hikes as properties are converted to short-term rentals.
Protests also unfolded in Granada, San Sebastián, and Ibiza. In Venice, demonstrators unfurled banners demanding an end to new hotel beds, particularly in historic areas where they claim residents have been displaced.
Barcelona protestors blew whistles and carried signs stating “One more tourist, one less resident.” Stickers with messages like “Citizen Self-Defense” and “Tourist Go Home,” featuring a water gun design, were affixed to hotel and hostel doors. Tensions rose outside a hostel when water guns sprayed two employees, who retaliated by closing the doors.
American tourists Wanda and Bill Dorozenski were sprayed while strolling down a luxury shopping street, but they took it in stride. Wanda remarked, “That's lovely, thank you sweetheart,” acknowledging, “These people are feeling something...very personal, and is perhaps destroying some areas (of the city).” Many protesters used their water guns on themselves to cool off amid the 83-degree Fahrenheit (28.3 degrees Celsius) heat.
Globally, cities are grappling with the challenges of mass tourism and the rise of short-term rental platforms like Airbnb. In Spain, this frustration is particularly noticeable, as evidenced by previous squirt gun protests in Barcelona. Spain's 48 million residents hosted a record 94 million international visitors in 2024. In response, Spain’s government instructed Airbnb to remove nearly 66,000 rentals that violated local regulations.
Spanish Consumer Rights Minister Pablo Bustinduy emphasized that the tourism industry “cannot jeopardize the constitutional rights of the Spanish people,” such as housing and well-being. Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo acknowledged the need to address mass tourism's negative impacts. In the most significant move, Barcelona's town hall plans to annul all 10,000 short-term rental licenses by 2028, reflecting sentiments displayed on Sunday with signs stating, “Your Airbnb was my home.”
The short-term rental sector feels unjustly targeted. Airbnb's general director for Spain and Portugal, Jaime Rodríguez de Santiago, argued politicians are scapegoating the industry for longstanding policy failures in housing and tourism. However, ordinary Barcelonans remain unmoved by this defense.
Txema Escorsa, a Barcelona teacher, no longer uses Airbnb, even when traveling, asserting, “In the end, you realise that this is taking away housing from people.”
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