BARCELONA
\nProtesters used water pistols against unsuspecting tourists in Barcelona and on the Spanish island of Mallorca on Sunday as demonstrators marched to demand a rethink of an economic model they believe is fueling a housing crunch and erasing the character of their hometowns.
\nThe marches were part of the first coordinated effort by activists concerned with the ills of overtourism across southern Europe\u2019s top destinations. While several thousands rallied in Mallorca in the biggest gathering of the day, hundreds more gathered in other Spanish cities, as well as in Venice, Italy, and Portugal\u2019s capital, Lisbon.
\n\u201cThe squirt guns are to bother the tourists a bit,\u201d Andreu Mart\u00ednez said in Barcelona with a chuckle after spritzing a couple seated at an outdoor caf\u00e9. \u201cBarcelona has been handed to the tourists. This is a fight to give Barcelona back to its residents.\u201d
\nMart\u00ednez, a 42-year-old administrative assistant, is one of a growing number of residents who are convinced that tourism has gone too far in the city of 1.7 million people. Barcelona hosted 15.5 million visitors last year eager to see Antoni Gaud\u00ed\u2019s La Sagrada Familia basilica and the Las Ramblas promenade.
\nMart\u00ednez says his rent has risen over 30 percent as more apartments in his neighborhood are rented to tourists for short-term stays. He said there is a knock-on effect of traditional stores being replaced by businesses catering to tourists, like souvenir shops, burger joints and \u201cbubble tea\u201d spots.
\n\u201cOur lives, as lifelong residents of Barcelona, are coming to an end,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are being pushed out systematically.\u201d
\nAround 5,000 people gathered in Palma, the capital of Mallorca, with some toting water guns as well and chanting \u201cEverywhere you look, all you see are tourists.\u201d The tourists who were targeted by water blasts laughed it off. The Balearic island is a favorite for British and German sun-seekers. It has seen housing costs skyrocket as homes are diverted to the short-term rental market.
\nHundreds more marched in Granada, in southern Spain, and in the northern city of San Sebasti\u00e1n, as well as the island of Ibiza.
\nIn Venice, a couple of dozen protesters unfurled a banner calling for a halt to new hotel beds in the lagoon city in front of two recently completed structures, one in the popular tourist destination\u2019s historic center where activists say the last resident, an elderly woman, was kicked out last year.
\n\u2018That\u2019s lovely\u2019
\nProtesters in Barcelona blew whistles and held up homemade signs saying \u201cOne more tourist, one less resident.\u201d They stuck stickers saying \u201cCitizen Self-Defense,\u201d in Catalan, and \u201cTourist Go Home,\u201d in English, with a drawing of a water pistol on the doors of hotels and hostels.
\nThere was tension when the march stopped in front of a large hostel, where a group emptied their water guns at two workers positioned in the entrance. They also set off firecrackers next to the hostel and opened a can of pink smoke. One worker spat at the protesters as he slammed the hostel\u2019s doors.
\nAmerican tourists Wanda and Bill Dorozenski were walking along Barcelona\u2019s main luxury shopping boulevard where the protest started. They received a squirt or two, but she said it was actually refreshing given the 83 degree Fahrenheit (28.3 degrees Celsius) weather.
\n\u201cThat\u2019s lovely, thank you sweetheart,\u201d Wanda said to the squirter. \u201cI am not going to complain. These people are feeling something to them that is very personal, and is perhaps destroying some areas (of the city).\u201d
\nThere were also many marchers with water pistols who didn\u2019t fire at bystanders and instead solely used them to spray themselves to keep cool.
\nCrackdown on Airbnb
\nCities across the world are struggling with how to cope with mass tourism and a boom in short-term rental platforms, like Airbnb, but perhaps nowhere has surging discontent been so evident as in Spain, where protesters in Barcelona first took to firing squirt guns at tourists during a protest last summer.
\nThere has also been a confluence of the pro-housing and anti-tourism struggles in Spain, whose 48 million residents welcomed record 94 million international visitors in 2024. When thousands marched through the streets of Spain\u2019s capital in April, some held homemade signs saying \u201cGet Airbnb out of our neighborhoods.\u201d
\nSpanish authorities are striving to show they hear the public outcry while not hurting an industry that contributes 12 percent of gross domestic product.
\nLast month, Spain\u2019s government ordered Airbnb to remove almost 66,000 holiday rentals from the platform that it said had violated local rules.
\nSpain\u2019s Consumer Rights Minister Pablo Bustinduy told The Associated Press shortly after the crackdown on Airbnb that the tourism sector \u201ccannot jeopardize the constitutional rights of the Spanish people,\u201d which enshrines their right to housing and well-being. Carlos Cuerpo, the economy minister, said in a separate interview that the government is aware it must tackle the unwanted side effects of mass tourism.
\nThe boldest move was made by Barcelona\u2019s town hall, which stunned Airbnb and other services who help rent properties to tourists by announcing last year the elimination of all 10,000 short-term rental licenses in the city by 2028.
\nThat sentiment was back in force on Sunday, where people held up signs saying \u201cYour Airbnb was my home.\u201d
\n\u2018Taking away housing\u2019
\nThe short-term rental industry, for its part, believes it is being treated unfairly.
\n\u201cI think a lot of our politicians have found an easy scapegoat to blame for the inefficiencies of their policies in terms of housing and tourism over the last 10, 15, 20 years,\u201d Airbnb\u2019s general director for Spain and Portugal, Jaime Rodr\u00edguez de Santiago recently told the AP.
\nThat argument either hasn\u2019t trickled down to the ordinary residents of Barcelona, or isn\u2019t resonating.
\nTxema Escorsa, a teacher in Barcelona, doesn\u2019t just oppose Airbnb in his home city, he has ceased to use it even when traveling elsewhere, out of principle.
\n\u201cIn the end, you realize that this is taking away housing from people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BARCELONA Protesters used water pistols against unsuspecting tourists in Barcelona and on the Spanish island of Mallorca on Sunday as demonstrators marched to demand a rethink of an economic model they believe is fueling a housing crunch and erasing the character of their hometowns. The marches were part of the first coordinated effort by activists […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":484682,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-484666","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n