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TOURISM

Granada and Mallorca pile more pressure on Spain’s mass tourism problem

Spain's anti-tourism protests continued over the weekend with locals in Granada and Mallorca taking to the streets to highlight the negative impact on rental markets and local environments.

Published: 17 June 2024 13:50 CEST
Granada and Mallorca pile more pressure on Spain's mass tourism problem
Tourists look at the Alhambra from the Mirador de San Nicolás in Granada. Photo: JORGE GUERRERO/AFP.

Spain’s growing anti-tourism movement continued over the weekend, with demonstrations in Mallorca and Granada protesting the impact of mass tourism on locals.

This comes amid recent protests in Barcelona, the Canary Islands, and Madrid, among many other Spanish cities. In several parts of the country local governments have brought in limits on tourist rentals, something many feel inflates the rental market and prices locals out of their own neighbourhoods.

READ ALSO: ‘It kills the city’: Barcelona’s youth protest against mass tourism

On Sunday Mallorca residents took to the Caló des Moro beach to protest over-tourism in the area. The demonstration, organised by the Mallorca Platja Tour movement, saw more than 300 people occupy the idyllic cove that locals claim is becoming more difficult to enjoy due to growing numbers of tourists.

Protestors had two large banners stating “Let’s occupy our beaches” and “It’s time to stop.” Caló des Moro was chosen as a symbol of an area where residents say they can’t go as it’s becoming so oversaturated with visitors, and the protest began at 8.00 a.m to anticipate the arrival of thousands of tourists who come every weekend.

For many locals, mass-tourism also presents an ecological danger with an “extreme situation” they feel the Balearic government is doing little to tackle. The town council of Santanyí, where the cove is, favours regulating the influx of tourists, and points out that the huge number of people on the beaches means that 50 kilos of sand are lost every day.

4,000 tourists visit the beach every day during the summer season, according to the local council.

Mass protests against overtourism also took place across the Balearic Islands on May 26th, showcasing locals’ intentions to continue protesting until something changes.

READ ALSO: ‘Beach closed’: Fake signs put up in Spain’s Mallorca to dissuade tourists

Down in southern Spain, hundreds of people also demonstrated in the Albaicín neighbourhood of Granada over the weekend, principally against tourist overcrowding in the area that complicates the day-to-day life of locals and drives up rents.

Locals complain that the famously narrow streets of Albaicín are now always packed with people, mostly tourists. “They don’t let people through, many groups come to see it,” one woman said, referring to the picturesque neighbourhood in the shadow of the Alhambra.

As many as 200 people gathered at the Mirador de San Nicolás viewing point, a popular spot for tourists in Granada due to its views of the Alhambra, under the slogan “Our neighbourhood is not a theme park, for a liveable Albaicín.”

Demonstrators also held up banners criticising the behaviour of tourists, such as “don’t take pictures of me, I’m not your postcard” and “more residents, less clients” among others.

READ ALSO: Valencia to stop issuing licences to Airbnb-style lets as rents soar past €1,000

As is the case across Spain, locals in Granada also feel that the increasing number of short-term tourist rentals in the area is causing rental prices to increase.

“It’s an uncontrolled phenomenon,” locals said, something they say has led to a decrease in the number of local people living in Albaicín.

Local resident Sergio Ayuso said “the neighbourhood has been filled with tourist accommodation. This is a blessing for the tourist agents but for the neighbourhood… it is our punishment.”

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TOURISM

Valencia to crackdown on tourist flats in historic old town

After news that Barcelona intends to phase out 10,000 tourist rental flats by 2029, the city of Valencia has started the process of banning new 'pisos turísticos' in the historic old town.

Published: 24 June 2024 10:25 CEST
Valencia to crackdown on tourist flats in historic old town

Valencia city council last week unanimously approved plans to crackdown on the use of residential properties as tourist housing in the historic centre, known as the Ciutat Vella or ‘old town’.

This includes the popular neighbourhoods of Velluters, Pilar, Mercat, Carmen, La Seu and part of La Xerea. These central areas have the greatest concentration of tourist rental flats in the city, and council estimates suggest that 10 percent of all residences there are now holiday homes.

This follows news last month that the council would stop issuing new licences to Airbnb-style lets for a year, with the possibility to extend the measure, as rents surge past €1,000 in the city.

According to figures reported by Spanish daily El País, more than 3,500 tourist flats have opened in Valencia in the last year alone. However, in Valencia and cities across Spain, there are also many thousands of unlicensed tourist properties. It is unclear how exactly these flats can be properly regulated.

READ ALSO: Barcelona to get rid of all tourist rental flats ‘by 2028’

In Valencia problem is such that all political parties in the city, including the right-wing Partido Popular and Vox, as well as left-wing parties Compromís and PSPV, voted in favour of starting the process, which will take more than a year.

It comes amid a wave of crackdown on tourist rentals across Spain. In Barcelona last week, city mayor Jaume Collboni shocked many by announcing that the local government intends to ‘eliminate’ 10,000 tourist apartments in the Catalan capital by 2029. These apartments, he said, would be converted into much needed affordable housing for locals.

Surging rent prices are a problem in cities across Spain. In Valencia, the council authorities seem to have taken inspiration from Barcelona and pledged to try and create “a model similar to that of Barcelona… so that, within four years, we can begin to eliminate all the tourist flats in our city and convert them into residential housing”.

The council also wants to ban tourist flats in residential buildings entirely in the old town. “We want it to be a residential neighbourhood,” said city councillor for urban planning, Juan Giner, “and for this reason we have proposed that it is not compatible and no new tourist flats will be opened in the buildings where locals live.”

The proposals, however, would not be a total ban and do include an important exception: that new tourist accommodation will still be allowed in the old town when it is an exclusive use building (that is to say, without any residential housing) and only in the San Francesc neighbourhood and in a small part of La Xerea.

Equally, tourist properties that already have the proper licences or authorisation will be able to continue to operate, but the council’s plans mean that no new licences will be issued in the near future and no new tourist flats will be opened in residential buildings in the old town.

READ ALSO: ‘It’s become unliveable’: Spain’s Málaga plans protests against mass tourism

Anti-tourism protests have gained momentum across the country in recent months, with locals taking to the streets in Barcelona, Madrid, the Canary and Balearic Islands, and further walkouts planned in Málaga at the end of June.

Locals complain that the increasing numbers of Airbnb-style rental accommodation decreases the supply of affordable, residential housing, drives up rental prices, gentrifies local neighbourhoods and prices out locals.

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