Over the course of many weeks in July, thousands of locals hit the streets of Spain’s major tourist destinations saying they’ve had enough of tourists. The protests are the latest in an anti-tourist sentiment gripping much of Europe, with experts warning that they could have ripple effects all over the world.
From Barcelona to Mallorca, Spanish protesters have called for a more balanced approach to tourism, arguing that the sector has been contributing to the country’s housing crisis.
In an interview to British daily The Guardian, Peter DeBrine, UNESCO’s senior project officer for sustainable tourism, said the protests could spread beyond Europe.“What we’re seeing is that we’re breaching a threshold of tolerance in these destinations,” he told the Guardian. “It’s really trying to rebalance the situation. It’s totally out of balance now.”
Signs displaying the words “tourists go home” have become a common sight in Spain.Anti-tourism activists have staged a series of protests this year in Barcelona and other popular holiday destinations like Palma de Mallorca, Malaga and the Canary Islands, saying visitors drive up housing costs and lead to residents being unable to afford to live in city centres.
Other countries, too, are cracking down on tourist activity.In April this year, the City of Venice, Italy, launched a pilot program to charge day-trippers a five-euro ($5.35) entry fee that authorities hope will discourage visitors from arriving on peak days and make the city more livable for its dwindling residents.“We need to find a new balance between the tourists and residents,’’ said Simone Venturini, the city’s top tourism official. “We need to safeguard the spaces of the residents, of course, and we need to discourage the arrival of day-trippers on some particular days.”
With UNESCO officials worried about the scope of such protests expanding, tourism industry representatives in Canada hope that these sentiments don’t affect people’s livelihoods here.
According to the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC), domestic and international tourism contributed approximately 1.6 per cent of Canada’s total GDP ($42.7 billion) and employs nearly two million people annually.“More than half of tourism businesses are small and medium-size enterprises, with deep roots in the communities they are based in and serve. Tourism businesses represent five per cent of all businesses in Canada,” TIAC CEO Beth Potter told Media.
Concerns about how tourism may impact housing also seem to be affecting housing policy in Barcelona, one of Spain’s largest cities.