In what has become a rallying point for
some European cities, Barcelona became the latest to protest mass tourism, or
overtourism.
Residents of Spain’s most-visited city held
a protest march on Saturday that included some residents spraying tourists with water.
Part of the protest was against tourism’s
effect on local working conditions and commerce, including what some government
officials say is a nearly 70 percent rise in housing in the last decade. Protesters
were carrying signs and banners that read "Enough! Let's put limits on
tourism."
The protesters want action that would
reduce the number of tourists.
Barcelona's mayor recently said the country would be
The battle against overtourism has been raging in European
cities such as Amsterdam and Venice for years now.
"I have nothing against tourism, but
here in Barcelona we are suffering from an excess of tourism that has made our
city unlivable," said Jordi Guiu, a 70-year-old sociologist.
More than 12 million
people visited the city last year. Barcelona hosted the Summer Olympics in
1992. Spain is the second most-visited country in Europe, behind France, and
received 85 million visitors last year. That was a nearly 19 percent jump from
the previous year.
And travel to Europe by
United States citizens doesn’t
look to have dissipated much this year.
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