Barcelona Guests Sprayed By Water Weapons As Residents Protest Glut Of Tourism

Protesters gathered in Barcelona, Spain, this weekend to take a stand in opposition to over-tourism.

Whereas some protesters chanted and carried indicators that stated “Tourists, go home” and “Barcelona is not for sale,” some took to spraying vacationers with water weapons, in response to a number of information retailers.

Town’s police power, the Guàrdia Urbana de Barcelona, reported that 2,800 protesters confirmed up Saturday, in response to NBC Information, which cited the Spanish information group El País.

Nonetheless, the group that organized the demonstration, Assemblea de Barris pel Decreixement Turístic (the Neighborhood Meeting for Vacationer Degrowth), with greater than 150 native organizations, estimated that 20,000 demonstrators have been there, The Washington Put up reported.

The group printed a manifesto with 13 calls for to handle mass tourism, together with decreasing vacationer lodging and dealing to eradicate cruise terminals within the Port of Barcelona, in response to Al Jazeera. Protesters declare the expansion of tourism has pushed up rents and worsened the town’s high quality of life.

The Washington Put up reported that Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni has posted on X, previously Twitter, that 10,000 residential models usually used for vacationers can be reserved for native residents as an alternative. He additionally reportedly vowed to extend taxes on tourism.

Because the Put up reported, the demonstration illuminates the pressure of mass tourism on residents in well-liked vacationer locations, similar to Japan, Indonesia and Italy.

The Tourism Observatory of Barcelona reported that the town hosted about 26 million vacationers final 12 months, who spent an estimated $10.4 billion.

Spanish residents have held a number of notable anti-tourism demonstrations in current months. In April, about 57,000 folks protested on the Canary Islands. In Could, Palma de Mallorca noticed about 10,000 demonstrators calling for curbs on tourism. Final month, about 15,000 folks protested over-tourism in Malaga.