Spanish protests against ‘suffocating’ overtourism spill into San Sebastian
A resident said the current tourism model has made the city a ‘soulless theme park’
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Hundreds of locals protested against “suffocating” tourism on the streets of San Sebastian at the weekend amid growing anti-tourist sentiment in Spain.
Under the banner “We are in danger; degrow tourism!”, groups in the Basque city marched through the historic centre to protest against the current tourism model and increasing rental prices for residents.
Sunday’s demonstration was organised by BiziLagunEkin (with the neighbours) and supported by over 50 regional groups in an “October Against Tourism”.
The civic association said: “Citizens have taken to the streets to denounce the serious consequences of tourism. The message is clear: the growth of this touristic model has exceeded all limits and, in view of this, it is essential to take measures in favour of touristic decline.”
Among the protestors’ 16 proposals to develop the tourism model, BiziLagunEkin has suggested protecting sites with ecological value, reducing the number of tourist flats, and halting the allocation of hotel licenses.
The organisation’s manifesto reads: “The people of Donostia, have little to celebrate. In fact, for a few this industry is the hen that lays the golden eggs, but for the majority, it is just an economic model that is suffocating us.
“Beyond the overcrowding of the streets in the most touristic neighbourhoods, the high cost of living, the expulsion of residents, the utilization of leisure, the violation of the right to housing, etc. are structural problems that are invisible at first glance and are widespread in all neighbourhoods.”
Member Asier Basurto told the BBC: “We’ve had a way of living for generations and generations – in which people are connected to each other and those who arrive are integrated.
“If we have a model whereby people just visit for five days and then leave then it becomes a soulless theme park, without culture, without a community.”
According to consultancy firm Braintrust, Spain expects to receive more than 90 million international visitors by the end of 2024. Protests have taken place across the mainland and popular islands since April.
Thousands of locals protested in holiday resorts in Spain’s Canary Islands on 20 October against overtourism, which they say prices local people out of the housing market.
Under the slogan ‘Canary Islands has a limit’, residents demonstrated simultaneously in Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Palma, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote and El Hierro, and called for a change in the tourism model for the islands.
In Playa de las Americas in Tenerife, protesters appeared on the beach while tourists were sunbathing, and chanted “This beach is ours.”
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