Massive spike in summer tourism has European cities fed up and fuming
Barcelona locals shooting water guns at visitors is a sign that things are getting tense on the continent.
Nearly 3,000 protesters hit the streets of Barcelona over the weekend to rail against overtourism in the Spanish city. Some sprayed water guns at tourists who were eating on restaurant patios (it’s hard to enjoy your tapas while folks are yelling at you to “go home”). Protestors blame visitors for the city’s overcrowding and lack of affordable housing.
Overtourism has gotten worse after the post-pandemic “revenge travel” boom, and popular destinations are rolling out restrictions to curb it.
Major European destinations are struggling: 26 million tourists visited Barcelona last year, sharply up from 20 million visitors before the pandemic. Venice’s visitors soared from 13 million in 2019 to 20 million last year — a 54% jump. Greece’s visitors jumped from 23 million pre-pandemic to 33 million last year.
The overtourism has prompted some reactions from the locals. Athens capped Acropolis on-lookers at 20,000 per day, and the entire country is looking to cap cruise ship passengers. Venice went so far as to roll out a 5 euro daily entrance fee.
Outside of Europe, Instagram-famous locations like Bali and Iceland now charge tourist taxes, and Japan’s Mount Fuji slapped a daily cap on visitors and started charging a toll for hiking its most popular trail.
That said, most of the places that struggle with overtourism also heavily rely on tourism spending. Tourism makes up 12% of Spain’s GDP, and Barcelona’s tourists brought $14 billion to the city last year. Now, politicians must juggle between preserving residents’ quality of life and keeping the tourist money flowing.
