Thousands of protesters marched through southern European cities on Sunday (July 15) as part of coordinated demonstrations against overtourism.
The largest protests took place in Mallorca and Barcelona, where some tourists were squirted with water pistols and some were shut in restaurants and shops to avoid demonstrators. More protests took place in other Spanish cities, as well as in Venice, Italy, and Lisbon, Portugal.
In a separate event, The Louvre in Paris was closed yesterday (June 16) after staff staged a spontaneous protest over understaffing and overcrowding at the famous attraction, reports CNN.
Who’s to blame?
In Spain, residents are demanding a rethink of an economic model, which they believe is causing a housing crisis. Protestors argue that rent is rising as more apartments are rented for short-term stays and traditional stores are being replaced by businesses catering for tourists, according to The Associated Press.
However, the WTTC believes that travel and tourism should not be blamed for wider issues like housing shortages, which often have causes beyond the sector’s influence. Travel and tourism generated substantial tax revenues and governments must engage with communities to ensure the funds were reinvested to meet local needs such as improved infrastructure, the group said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Airbnb is calling on the EU to address the impact hotels have on overtourism. Airbnb has been at the forefront of overtourism crackdowns with Spanish authorities recently calling for nearly 66 000 listings on Airbnb to be removed.
The call comes following a report, based on data from Eurostat, the World Tourism Organization, and Airbnb, which highlights how overtourism in the EU is driven by hotels. Hotels accounted for almost 80% of guest nights in 2023 and 2024. In Spain, approximately 75 000 new hotel rooms are expected across the country by 2026.
According to the report, the majority of hotel accommodation is in city centres, while almost 60% of guest nights on Airbnb in the EU were outside of cities. Central Amsterdam has 15 times more hotel rooms or similar accommodations than Airbnb listings, while Barcelona has around seven hotel beds for each short-term rental bed in the Old Town.
