Protesters swarmed the streets of Barcelona to sentence mass tourism, which they blame for skyrocketing lease costs and town changing into “unliveable.”
A number of retailers reported that hundreds of protesters, together with greater than 150 organizations, marched by means of Barcelona on Saturday.
Images confirmed protesters carrying indicators that learn, “Barcelona will not be on the market” and “Vacationers go house.”
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Footage obtained by BBC confirmed protesters utilizing water weapons in opposition to folks visiting fashionable vacationer areas whereas chanting, “Go house!”
Protesters additionally taped off sure eating places and motels as if to symbolically shut the institutions.
Barcelona is a prime vacationer vacation spot that attracts thousands and thousands of vacationers yearly with its Mediterranean local weather and distinct tradition. The Barcelona Tourism Observatory stated town welcomed 15.6 million vacationers and the area practically 26 million in 2023.
Whereas the inflow of vacationers brings cash to Barcelona’s economic system, it will possibly even have adversarial impacts like rising the native value of dwelling.
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In accordance with Reuters, lease in Barcelona and different fashionable cities like Madrid rose by 18% in June in comparison with the earlier 12 months.
One protester informed Reuters that “town has turned fully for vacationers and what we would like is a metropolis for residents and never in service of vacationers” lately.
One other stated tourist-heavy venues like eating places and motels make good cash from vacationers, however some locals “are in a really poor state of affairs and so they do not manage to pay for to reside. That is an issue.”
A resident informed AFP that town is struggling because of this.
“I’ve nothing in opposition to tourism, however right here in Barcelona, we’re affected by an extra of tourism that has made our metropolis unliveable,” they stated.
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Representatives for the Mayor of Barcelona, town’s police division, and the tourism workplace didn’t reply to a request for remark from Enterprise Insider.
Barcelona officers have taken measures in latest months to handle overtourism. It is a problem that a number of fashionable vacationer hubs are tackling, together with Japan and Venice.
The town elevated its vacationer tax in April, in line with USA Immediately.
In accordance with Bloomberg, they later introduced plans to ban all short-term leases in June.
“Extra provide of housing is required, and the measures we’re presenting at this time are to offer extra provide in order that the working center class doesn’t have to depart town as a result of they cannot afford housing,” Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni stated. “This measure won’t change the state of affairs from in the future to the subsequent. These issues take time. However with this measure we’re marking a turning level.”
Barcelona banned cruise ships from docking at one among its terminals in 2023 to handle overcrowding and air pollution.
