Barcelona: Protesters Want Tourists Out Of Their Country

Thousands of anti-tourism protesters marched through Barcelona’s streets, yelling, “Go Home!” on July 6th, 2024.

Later, a mass email with a different message was sent by Spain’s tourism board:
“Spain: the summer you’ll want to go back to year after year… We can’t wait to see you!”

International appearances to Spain kept on rising this late spring, with some 10.9 million showing up in August — a 7% year-on-year increment, as per Spain’s National Statistics Institute.

Interestingly, the best three most famous destinations were the very places where protesters arranged the walks this year.

According to data, the number of international tourists visiting the Balearic Islands—where Mallorca is located—in August increased by 4% from the same time period in 2023.

Also, the number of foreign visitors to Barcelona, which is located in Catalonia, increased by 6% from 2023 to 2023. Then, 1.6 million were sent to Andalusia, an increase of 9% year-over-year.

Meanwhile, a survey conducted by the tourism board of Mallorca found that 89% of American tourists were either unaware of or unconcerned about the protests in Mallorca.

Nonetheless, 70% of the individuals who had some awareness of the exhibits, said the protest had no effect” on their travel objectives.

However, the effect was brief, with a 23 percent drop in hotel reservations and a 35 percent drop in search activity within seven to ten days of the event.

Plans to expand Barcelona’s airport, reduce the number of cruise terminals near the city, curtail the short-term rental market, and end tax-funded tourism promotion of the city are being called for by officials.

Meanwhile, Barcelona’s city committee hasn’t directly responded to the July 6 protest, but has since announced new measures pointed toward handling overtourism.

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Over 50 measures to achieve a better balance between locals and tourists were outlined in the measure.

Management of Barcelona’s tourism industry is one of its top priorities, according to the City Council, as the city’s annual visitor count approaches 17 million.

A representative of the city council of Barcelona stated,

“Tourism is strategic for the city economy so it represents 14% GPD. The measure of success of tourism in Barcelona cannot focus on the volume of visitors but rather on managing the flow of people so as not to exceed a social and environmental limit.”

Handling visitors flows is a strategy that is fast gaining ground as a way to mitigate overtourism, from the use of sensors and mobile phone monitoring tools to provide real-time crowd data.

Officials claim that the recent decision by the city council to increase a nightly tourism surcharge by 4 euros (or $4.38) will not reduce tourism but rather increase revenue.

Again, officials said they are excited, despite claims that protesters were humiliated by an influx of summer tourists.

“Public opinion of the people from Barcelona about touristification changed a lot, from the official narration ‘tourism is good for everyone’, which is no longer believable for anyone, to … ’touristification went too far,” an official said.

Although the number of protesters reported by local media to be around 3,000, there were over 15,000 who marched in protest. Media inclusion with respect to overtourism has changed.

The Assembly of Neighbourhoods for Tourism Degrowth, on its website, states that residents will be the biggest force for change for Barcelona’s mass tourism problems.

It states that more territories are mobilizing and are “working on joint dates for large mobilizations, meetings of our organizations and shared strategies.”

Reports say, there are more protests being organized. However, some tourism experts say the protests are not the most effective way to tackle overtourism, and may even have the wrong effect.

The report said alleviating overtourism “really is a responsibility of governments,” but solving it will require cooperation between governments, travelers, residents and travel companies.

If European cities do not address overtourism, protests will “absolutely” spread, according to UNESCO officials.