Protests over mass tourism could spread beyond Spain, says Unesco official

Surging visitor numbers, soaring housing prices and the rise of selfie-seeking tourists have helped to create situations that are “totally out of balance”, a Unesco official has said, adding that a failure to address these issues could see the Spanish wave of protests against mass tourism extend across Europe.

In recent weeks tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in Spain’s most popular destinations, calling for curbs on mass tourism and a rethink of a business model that they say has pushed up housing prices and driven local people out of cities.

From Málaga to Mallorca and Gran Canaria to Granada, organisers have stressed that the protests are not against tourism, per se, but rather a call for a more balanced approach.

It’s a sentiment echoed by Peter DeBrine, Unesco’s senior project officer for sustainable tourism. “What we’re seeing is that we’re breaching a threshold of tolerance in these destinations,” he said. “It’s really trying to rebalance the situation. It’s totally out of balance now.”

He pointed to a myriad of factors to explain why many in Spain – long one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations – were now leading the backlash against the industry. Chief among them was the housing crisis, he said, describing it as the “straw that breaks the camel’s back”.

Tourism has exacerbated existing concerns over the affordability of housing, as the spread of short-term accommodation squeezes local residents out of the market. “I think that added a lot of anxiety and frustration for people who are living in these destinations,” said DeBrine.

Workers in places such as Ibiza have found themselves with little choice but to live in vans, caravans and tents, while in Málaga, a “sticker rebellion” has seen residents plaster stickers – reading “A family used to live here” or “Go home” – outside tourist lets across the city.

As Spain goes from one record-breaking year to another, the rocketing number of visitors was another factor that had contributed to the protests, said DeBrine. “I think in certain destinations, certainly there is also the way that tourists behave,” he said. “I think that also adds to it – you know, the tourists that aren’t respecting those destinations where they’re travelling.”

Destinations across Spain have long sought to push back against what local people describe as antisocial behaviour: introducing dress codes, cracking down on alcohol sales and – as happened recently in one resort town – moving to ban inflatable penis costumes and sex dolls.

Unesco has long promoted travel, pointing to its singular ability to foster an appreciation of cultural heritage across the globe. But in a time of social media, this ideal had seemingly become a tougher sell, said DeBrine.

“I mean, we have also evolved into what I call a selfie-motivated tourism,” he said. “You know, they just want to take a photo of something without really any understanding of what it is and what it means to our past and future.”

Frustration with the growing hordes of selfie-seekers was on display in Mallorca in June, as hundreds staged a protest in a picturesque cove to complain about the overcrowding and environmental degradation wrought by the many Instagrammers and influencers flocking to the site to capture the perfect picture.

Weeks later, however, the protests in Spain took a bitter turn after a handful of protesters bearing water guns squirted water at tourists. Others carried signs reading “Tourists go home” and “You are not welcome”.

DeBrine described the actions as “extreme and not necessary”, but saw them as being born of frustration: “And they probably won’t go away until there’s some sort of response.”

What was needed was a paradigm shift, he said, whereby decision-makers started to ask how things could be made better for residents. “It’s a bit of a cliche, but I always say better places to live are better places to visit.”

It was a shift already visible in many places, he said, pointing to Denmark’s push to encourage climate-friendly, sustainable behaviour and Venice’s entry fee. In Barcelona, the mayor recently vowed to curb apartment rentals to tourists by 2028, while Mallorca and Dubrovnik have taken action to limit cruise ship arrivals.

Not all of these solutions would necessarily work, said DeBrine, pointing to earlier efforts to disperse tourists within hotspot destinations as an example. The strategy led to unintended consequences as some local people began complaining about noise and strains on local infrastructure, while others saw themselves pushed out of areas as housing was increasingly converted into short-term lets. “All of a sudden you have people everywhere in a destination and that is also kind of causing a problem.”

But these shortcomings were preferable to the alternative, where local authorities refuse to acknowledge the issue, risking the spreading of protests against tourism beyond Spain, said DeBrine.

“We have a small window here to start to make some changes and to try different things,” he said. “The goal is to become more sustainable, so how do we get there?”