Anti-tourism activists in southern Spain may have reached a new low after a lockbox outside a tourist apartment was found smeared with excrement.
ABC reports that several padlocked boxes containing keys to Airbnb-style rentals were found covered in feces in Seville this week.
The incident reportedly happened outside a tourist apartment building in the Alameda district of the city center.
Read more: British tourists called a ‘plague’ in southern Spain
The historic city of Seville has seen a series of protests this year but this is the first time that such properties have been directly targeted.
It is not clear how the excrement smearing was planned or who was behind it.
Anti-tourism messages have begun to appear on apartment balconies in the Andalusian capital.
Online videos show a white sheet (pictured above right) hanging over the terrace with the words “La ciudad para quien la habita” (The city for the people who live there) written on it.
Local activist groups such as Sevilla Resiste have organised a series of protests so far this year.
The Seville Se Muere (Seville is Dying) association unfurled a banner in Salvador Square at the end of June before listing its demands to the city council.
The group called for a ban on new tourist apartment licences, saying a plummeting housing stock and soaring rents are driving locals out of the city centre.
?Boicotean con exclamation candados de pisos turísticos del entorno de la Alameda. José Luis Sanz, el politicación de escritorio …
— ABC de Sevilla (@abcdesevilla) July 15, 2024
Dozens of supporters of the group were seen wearing T-shirts reading “No to Mass Tourism” and speakers were later seen clashing with a nearby bar owner who wanted the protesters to move on.
The group said the current tourism model is creating an “unlimited proliferation of tourist accommodation” that has led to “exorbitant increases in housing costs, the deterioration of historic heritage and ultimately the blight of cities and their transformation into theme parks devoid of soul or real life”.
The number of Airbnb-style listings in Seville has increased by at least 32% in the past year.
Seville Se Muere defines itself as an apolitical citizens’ movement fighting for a liveable city.
It’s one of many similar groups popping up across the country.
More recent examples include “Cádiz Resiste” in Cádiz and “Albaicín Abitable” in Granada.
