In Barcelona, San Sebastián and Granada on the mainland as well as on Ibiza and Mallorca, demonstrators gathered to express their frustration over mass tourism to Spanish cities.
"Tourism steals our bread, our roof and our future", the crowd chanted in Barcelona according to the newspaper El País.
In Palma on Mallorca and in the Catalan capital Barcelona, some demonstrators sprayed water on tourists.
”Been given away to tourists”
The water guns are intended to disturb the tourists a bit, said Andreu Martínez to the news agency AP after shooting a water jet at a tourist couple on an outdoor café.
Barcelona has been given away to tourists. This is a fight to give the city back to its inhabitants. We are systematically pushed away.
According to El País, minor clashes occurred during Sunday's protest, including between demonstrators and hotel staff in Barcelona. A tourist wearing a Make America Great Again cap in support of US President Donald Trump received police escort from the site after Barcelona demonstrators shouted "nazi" after him, the newspaper writes.
Rent doubled on average
Last year, 94 million tourists visited Spain, which meant a ten percent increase from the previous year. Between January and April this year, 25.6 million visitors have been registered – more than seven percent more than during the same period in 2024.
As a result of tourism, rents have skyrocketed for the resident Spaniards. On average, the average rent in Spain has almost doubled in the last ten years, AP reported in April. Apartments are rented out to short-term residents and shops are replaced by souvenir shops and fast food chains.
Protests against tourism were also held in, among other places, Venice in Italy and Lisbon in Portugal during the weekend, writes the Italian news agency Ansa.
