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Barcelonians protest overtourism with smoke bombs and water guns
STORY: Armed with smoke bombs and water pistols, Barcelona residents on Sunday protested against excessive tourism, which they say, is harming their community.Some demonstrators confronted an angry hotel staff member, kicked smoke bombs inside the hotel lobby and covered the entrance with tape.Sunday’s demonstrations were part of coordinated protests across Spain, Portugal, and Italy under the umbrella group, Southern Europe against Overtourism.Activists argue that uncontrolled tourism has sent housing prices soaring, and has forced people out of their neighborhoods.”It affects our housing. More and more, we find ourselves pushed out of our apartments so they can be turned into tourist rentals.”Local resident Eva Vilaseca joined the protests – she lives near Barcelona’s landmark Park Güell, designed by famous Catalan architect Antoni Gaudi.The beautiful gardens there attract many visitors – and Vilaseca says these days, it feels like it’s turned into a theme park where residents have no space:“We want an economy that brings prosperity to the city and benefits residents. That economy isn’t tourism, we know it—because we’ve been living like this for years, and all it’s brought us is more precariousness, more poverty, and people being forced to leave the city. We don’t want to become another Ibiza.”For a city of just 1.6 million people, Barcelona drew 26 million tourists last year.Its government said it would bar apartment rentals to tourists by 2028, to make the city more livable for locals.Even as tourists face an unfriendly reception, a forecast from the World Travel and Tourism Council says Spain and France are set to receive record numbers of tourists this year.And the group expects international travel spending in Europe to rise this year 11% to $838 billion, which may be influenced, in part, by some tourists avoiding the United States.That’s according to the group’s CEO, who said in a recent press briefing Canadians and Mexicans might opt against travel to the U.S. in light of President Donald Trump’s trade and migration policies, or unfavorable currency exchange rates.