An icon with a downward angle. An icon in the shape of a downward angle. People protest against overtourism in Barcelona on July 6, 2024. JOSEP LAGO/Getty Images One TikTok user said in a recent video that Europe has become like Disney World for Americans. Residents of European destinations who have been protesting mass tourism might agree. Some locals in Venice and Barcelona have protested against their cities being overrun with tourists.
A recent video posted by a TikToker explaining how Europe is becoming a hotbed of American tourism has garnered nearly a million views.
“We’ve seen a lot of news about local Europeans getting angry because tourists are ruining their towns,” US-based comedian Dan Rosen said in a TikTok video. “You guys have to accept that you are our Disney World now.”
He’s referring to the backlash against overtourism that has been sweeping across Europe in recent months, and he’s not wrong to say that some European cities are being treated merely as tourist destinations, rather than as places where people live.
Notably, recent protests in Barcelona saw protesters blasting tourists sitting outside the city’s restaurants and bars with water pistols, yelling “Go home!”
Some Barcelona residents are frustrated by the increase in mass tourism, blaming it for high rents and making the city “unlivable.”
Other European cities face similar problems.
Popular tourist destinations such as Venice and Lake Como in Italy and picturesque towns in Switzerland are considering or testing tourist fees to curb visitor numbers.
Meanwhile, other cities are imposing fines for taking selfies in certain areas and banning people from sitting or eating in public places.
However, the TikTok user wasn’t particularly sympathetic to the plight of the tourist-filled European city.
“They enjoyed colonizing the world, plundering it, squeezing it for wealth and building lovely little squares and palaces,” he said.
“You need to accept that you are now just a museum city… you are our playground,” he added.
Some Venetian residents protested against tourism fees in April. Luca Bruno/AP
Rosen’s sentiments are shared by some Venetian residents, some of whom protested against a trial fee of 5 euros ($5.40) imposed on day-trippers earlier this year.
They objected to their home town being treated as merely a tourist destination, with one opponent of the move saying Venice was “becoming a museum and a theme park,” Reuters reported.
In the video, Rosen criticized Europe for selling history and processed meat to attract tourists without creating anything new.
However, tourists can’t fully enjoy what Europe has to offer.
According to a report by the European Travel Commission, Europe’s tourism industry saw a 12% increase in foreign tourist numbers in the second quarter of 2024 compared to the previous year.
Local complaints may be swamped by the lucrative nature of tourism: ETC predicts that tourists will spend 800.5 billion euros ($870 billion) in Europe this year, more than 13.7 percent more than last year.
“It’s ok you guys did well. It’s time for Europe to accept its destiny,” the TikTok user captioned the video.
