On Thursday April 25th Venice introduced a new €5 tourist charge for day-trippers as the city battles against mass tourism. But it’s not the only part of Europe that appears to have had enough of tourists.
Cities, towns, picturesque villages, national parks and World Heritage sites across Europe are taking measures to prevent overtourism.
Those moves are not without controversy.
Barcelona
Nestled on the coast of the Mediterranean, Barcelona is the capital of the Catalonia region, home to famed Gaudi architectural gems and one of Spain’s top football clubs.
Ada Colau, the leftist former housing rights activist who was mayor of the city between 2015 and June 2023, cracked down on illegal Airbnb rentals that were accused of pricing locals out of the property market.
The city also limited the entrance of tour groups in the historic La Boquería market, especially during peak shopping times.
And throughout the centre organised groups must be limited to a maximum of 20 people and guides are not allowed to use loudspeakers.
In 2023 tourist numbers registering in hotels, homes and hostels were down 6.9 percent compared with 2019 figures, according to the City Council.
However, Barcelona hasn’t completely rid itself of the problems caused by mass tourism, nor have other popular spots in Spain such as Málaga and the Canary Islands, where the spike in Airbnb-style holiday lets causing a rental crisis and other consequences of overtourism have angered locals.
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