Barcelona, a rallying point for several European cities, has become the latest to protest against mass tourism, or overtourism.
Residents of Spain’s most touristy city protested on Saturday, with some residents throwing water at tourists.
The protests were partly against the impact of tourism on local jobs and commerce, with some government officials saying house prices have risen by about 70 percent over the past decade. Protesters carried signs and banners reading “Enough is enough! Put limits on tourism.”
Protesters are calling for action to reduce tourist numbers.
The mayor of Barcelona recently said that the country
European cities such as Amsterdam and Venice have been battling overtourism intensifying in recent years.
“I’m not against tourism, but in Barcelona, too many tourists are making the city unlivable,” said Jordi Guiu, a 70-year-old sociologist.
Last year, more than 12 million people visited Barcelona, which hosted the Summer Olympics in 1992. Spain is Europe’s second most tourist-intensive country after France, with 85 million visitors last year, an increase of about 19 percent on the previous year.
And travel by Americans to Europe doesn’t appear to have slowed much this year.
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