‘Go home': Europeans furious over mass tourism unleash with water guns, smoke bombs, flares

News.com.au

12 hours ago

Water guns, smoke bombs, signs, megaphones, marching and chants.
Furious locals have taken to the streets of tourist hotspots in Spain, Italy and Portugal as part of a huge protest day against mass tourism in southern Europe.
Some locals feel foreigners are turning their cities into playgrounds while they are left behind with a housing crisis, rising rents and environmental impacts.
The most chaos appeared to unfold in the Spanish capital of Barcelona where protesters blasted water guns, let off smoke, and slapped stickers on shop fronts and hotels telling tourists to go home.
They also taped the entrance of a popular youth hostel.
Police formed a barricade to stop demonstrators from advancing toward the Basilica de la Sagrada Familia, an iconic tourist attraction that draws millions of visitors each year.
'I'm very tired of being a nuisance in my own city,' a 38-year-old protester told Reuters, saying she wanted Barcelona to 'bet on another economic model that brings prosperity to the city' other than tourism.
A 31-year-old from the city told The New York Times, 'the general perception is that these people have way more money than we do'.
'They come here to party, to rent places we can't afford on our wages,' she said. 'The problem is the tourism model itself: It's all about serving drinks, about real estate and the hotel industry.'
An organiser of a protest in San Sebastián told the publication: 'Our enemy is not the tourist, but the speculators and the exploiters who hide behind tourism to profit from the housing and lives of the local population.'
Ahead of the big day of protests, a group on the Spanish island of Majorca held up a double-decker sightseeing bus, let off flares and hung a banner from the bus.
A social media video showed a protester saying they disrupted the tour to denounce tourism and invite everyone to the protest the following day.
The June 15 protests — which also took place in Minorca, Ibiza, Malaga, Granada, Genoa, Naples, Palermo, Milan, Venice and Lisbon — followed a meeting of a coalition of activists called the Southern Europe Network Against Touristification in Barcelona in April.
At the time, one unnamed organiser from Lisbon told EU Today: 'The goal is not to attack individuals but to draw attention to the social and environmental toll tourism is taking on our cities.'
'It's not about hating tourists – it's about saving our communities,' said another activist.
Speaking to news.com.au ahead of the fresh wave of protests, Intrepid Travel's Australian managing director Brett Mitchell said he understood the frustrations of people living in these tourist hotspots and getting the balance right was a real issue that needed to be dealt with.
The Melbourne-born global company is vocal about the need for a sustainable tourism industry that benefits communities and travellers.
Mr Mitchell said it was on everyone, including government, tour operators, cruise lines and airlines, to get around the table and work on solutions for responsible destination management.
'The reality is tourism is not going to slow down, it's a mega trend and it's only going to become bigger and bigger, and if the issue is not addressed it's going to get worse and worse every year,' he said.
While tourism is vital to the local economies of these destinations — and more generally, in bringing the world together — Mr Mitchell said at peak times locals were being 'pushed out' or having their 'whole lifestyle completely turned on its head'.
'As a traveller, I think there's a lot of things we can do,' he said.
'Travelling in smaller groups; we always believe there's always a much better experience for locals and also you as a traveller.
'Look at the off seasons or shoulder seasons; it's another really good way to try and avoid crowds.
'Getting off the beaten track; yes go and see these amazing iconic tourist spots but get there early and then move on and go and see other alternative areas and destinations.
'And then we really believe in trying to spend locally, so really try and do your research and make sure the money on the ground when you're spending it in these countries is going to locally owned businesses and supply chains.'
Popular destinations across the world have been desperately trying to find new ways to cope with a massive boom in tourism post-Covid and avoid the trend dubbed 'overtourism'.
New taxes and fees have been introduced, caps have been put on visitor numbers, and new hotels and short-term rentals have been banned.
Japan has urged Australians to explore the country beyond the typical tourist hotspots as visitor numbers reach record highs. About 920,000 Australians visited Japan in 2024, setting a new record. This year we're expected to break the one million mark for the first time.
And Japan's advice echoed that of Indonesia in 2023, which pleaded with Aussies to explore more of the country beyond Bali.
Foreigner crackdowns across the globe
Countries across the world are continuing to crack down on foreigners.
Donald Trump's 'enhanced vetting' for arrivals at US airports appears to be getting the most attention, but there is plenty more happening elsewhere.
Italy has changed its citizenship laws, making it significantly harder for Australians (and other foreigners) to get a passport by descent. You can no longer get citizenship if your great-grandparents were born there, it has to be a parent or grandparent.
Venice is doubling its entry free for day-trippers this season and expanding the days it applies to. The fee, first introduced a year ago, was 5 euros ($9) and is now 10 euros ($18) for any visitors who don't book more than four days in advance.
Spain has ended its 'golden visa' that allowed non-EU citizens to get residency by buying property worth more than 500,000 euros, which closes off a pathway to Spanish citizenship.
Meanwhile, the city of Malaga has prohibited new holiday rental properties in 43 neighbourhoods for three years and a court has backed Barcelona's ban on short-term holiday rentals from 2028. The island of Ibiza is now allowing no more than two cruises to be docked at the same time.
The UK began requiring Australians, and a bunch of other countries who were previously exempt, to complete an application and pay a fee to enter. The EU will do the same but has delayed implementing the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system for 30 European countries multiple times, with the latest timeline indicating late 2026.
Scotland 's capital Edinburgh has revealed next year it will join a number of cities now charging a tourist tax on overnight accommodation. A 5 per cent charge will be added.
In Japan, the latest plan for hotspot Kyoto is to raise the historical city's accommodation tax tenfold — from 200-1000 yen ($2 to $11) per night, depending on the price of the lodging, to between 2000 and 10,000 yen ($22 to $115) per night.
Meanwhile, the mandatory fee for hiking Mount Fuji has doubled to 4000 yen ($46) per person for the peak season this year. A fee and requirement to book a limited spot was first introduced last year.
Nepal has also hiked the permit fee to summit Mount Everest during peak season by 36 per cent. It will now cost $US15,000 ($25,150), up from $US11,000 ($18,450).
Last year, notable changes in holiday hotspots included Bali introducing a $15 fee to enter the wildly popular Indonesian island, Greece introducing a cap on visitor numbers to the famed Acropolis in Athens, and Amsterdam in the Netherlands banning new hotels from being built.