This summer, protestors across Spain have highlighted a lack of affordable housing and overcrowding. In Mallorca, Granada, Málaga, and Gran Canaria, locals flooded the streets to demand change, hoping for a sustainable future. Their cause? The fight against mass tourism.
With real estate prices out of control and hordes of tourists taking selfies, locals have pushed back against the incursion into their homeland. Now, according to a UNESCO official, anti-tourism protests could spread through Europe if solutions aren’t found. Here’s what he had to say.
UNESCO official warns of more anti-tourism protests
Peter DeBrine, UNESCO’s Senior Project Officer for Sustainable Tourism, sounded the alarm on mass tourism and overcrowding, warning that protests might spread across Europe. Fueled by short-term rentals that inflate real estate prices and influencers looking for the perfect pic, anti-tourist attitudes continue to grow in Spain and beyond.
DeBrine said, “What we’re seeing is that we’re breaching a threshold of tolerance in these destinations.” He continued, “It’s really trying to rebalance the situation. It’s totally out of balance now.”
In particular, short-term rentals have caused a rise in housing prices, with Spanish locals forced to live in tents and vans. In Málaga, a “sticker rebellion” places plaster stickers on former homes — now tourist rentals — when messages like “Go home” or “A family used to live here.”
Beyond that, tourist behavior like selfie-seeking and disregard for local customs irks residents. DeBrine added, “I think in certain destinations, certainly, there is also the way that tourists behave,” continuing, “I think that also adds to it – you know, the tourists that aren’t respecting those destinations where they’re traveling.”
What’s the solution? DeBrine believes it starts with local governments asking how to improve locals’ lives, saying, “It’s a bit of a cliché, but I always say better places to live are better places to visit.” Further, he stated, “We have a small window here to start to make some changes and to try different things,” adding, “The goal is to become more sustainable, so how do we get there?”
