In Barcelona, an anti-tourist protest escalated with demonstrators using water pistols to attack holidaymakers outside the city’s iconic Sagrada Familia Basilica. The incident was captured on video, showing protestors blocking the path of an open-top tour bus while squirting it with water. During the event, the crowd chanted "Tourists go home!" and covered the bus’s window with a banner saying "Turn off the tourist focus." This protest is part of a broader wave of anti-tourism actions expected across Spain in the coming weeks, coinciding with the busy summer season.
The demonstration was organised by the Assembly of Neighbourhoods for the Decrease in Tourism, a group opposed to the current economic reliance on tourism. According to a post on X (formerly Twitter), 24 individuals were arrested in relation to this attack. One protester, speaking to Reuters, said, "We are here because we are fed up that tourism is always on top of this economic model." The group has announced plans for a larger protest on 15 June, aimed at ending what they describe as "the tourist fire that is sweeping the planet" and initiating "the essential socio-economic transformation of the territories it exploits."
Similar protests are planned in Majorca, with the capital Palma scheduled to host a demonstration on 1 May. The march will start at Plaza Espana at 11.30 am, proceeding through the Avenues and concluding at Parc de la Mar, according to The Sun. The surrounding Balearic Islands, Ibiza and Menorca, are also preparing protests, with local trade unions CCOO and UGT mobilising under the slogan "Protect what has been conquered, win the future." Pedro Homar and José Luís García, general secretaries of the unions, confirmed these plans on Tuesday.
In the Canary Islands, activists on Tenerife are preparing to begin their protests on 18 May.
These coordinated demonstrations highlight ongoing tensions in Spain between local communities and the tourism industry, as citizens call for changes to the socio-economic models currently dominant in these regions. The Express is reporting on the emergence of these protests and their implications for Spain’s tourism sector as the summer season approaches.
Source: Noah Wire Services