UK tourists planning holidays to popular Spanish destinations this June have been warned of potential disruptions caused by planned protests against overtourism.
Activist groups across Spain and southern Europe are coordinating "an unprecedented mobilisation" scheduled for June 15 to address tourist overcrowding in holiday hotspots.
The action could affect visitors to the Canary Islands, Majorca and Barcelona. The coordinated action was confirmed at a meeting of the Southern European Network Against Touristisation (SET) in Barcelona last weekend.
The network includes activist groups from across Spain, Italy, France and Portugal who are uniting to protest against what they see as unsustainable tourism levels.
Major Spanish cities will see unprecedented protests this summer
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Some protesters have hinted at potential demonstrations within airport terminals this summer.
Last summer, thousands of residents in the Balearic and Canary Islands, as well as Malaga and Barcelona, protested with placards telling tourists to "go home".
Some incidents turned confrontational, with holidaymakers in Barcelona being sprayed with water pistols.
In Menorca, protesters blocked tourists from accessing a popular beach.
Speaking after the SET meeting, Margalida Ramis from environmentalists GOB highlighted the "urgent need to limit tourism growth and promote a true socioeconomic transformation".
Barcelona protester Elena Boschi delivered a stark warning: "We want tourists to have some level of fear about the situation, without fear, there is no change."
Movement leader Daniel Pardo noted there was currently "no one set strategy" for the planned action.
In Spain, average rents have doubled and house prices have surged by over 44 per cent in the last decade.
Residential rental availability has plummeted since 2020, while short-term rentals have proliferated in major urban and coastal areas. This trend has pushed out local families from their communities.
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Some protesters have hinted at potential demonstrations within airport terminals
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Maria Cardona, a SET Network member from Ibiza, warned that protesters were prepared to escalate their actions "one step further" this summer.
The movement includes activists from numerous destinations, including Santander, Genoa, Pamplona, Lisbon, Marseille, Milan, Naples, Palermo, the Pyrenees, Rimini, Valence, and Venice.
Despite the planned protests, some activists emphasise they are not against tourism itself.
One anonymous member clarified: "We are not against tourists, but what we don't welcome is a way of being in our cities and regions that turns it into a place that is no longer nice to live in for us."
