Thousands of people took to the streets of southern European cities on Monday to demonstrate against overtourism, firing water guns at shop windows and blowing smoke in Barcelona, where the main protest took place, Reuters reported.
"Your holidays, my misery," chanted protesters in the streets of Barcelona, holding banners with slogans such as "mass tourism is killing the city" and "their greed is bringing us ruin."
Photos from Barcelona
Under the umbrella of the SET alliance - Sud d'Europa contra la Turistització - "Southern Europe against excessive tourism" - the protesters joined forces with groups in Portugal and Italy, arguing that uncontrolled tourism is driving up housing prices and forcing people to leave their neighborhoods.
Barcelona, a city of 1,6 million inhabitants, attracted 26 million tourists last year.
Authorities in the northeastern Spanish city said about 600 people joined the demonstration, some firing water guns or making colored smoke and sticking stickers reading "Neighborhood self-defense, tourists go home" on shop windows and hotels.
Outside a hotel, an agitated worker confronted protesters, saying he was "just working" and not the owner of the facility.
Similar demonstrations were held in other parts of Spain, including Ibiza, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, San Sebastian and Granada.
Protests in Italy have been held in cities including Genoa, Naples, Palermo, Milan and Venice, where locals are opposing the construction of two hotels that will add about 1.500 new beds to the city, organizers told Reuters.
In Barcelona, the city government announced last year that it would ban the rental of apartments to tourists by 2028 in order to make the city more livable for residents.
"I am very tired of being a nuisance in my city. The solution is to propose a radical reduction in the number of tourists in Barcelona and bet on another economic model that brings prosperity to the city," Eva Villaseca, 38, told Reuters at a demonstration in Barcelona today, rejecting the common counterargument that tourism brings jobs and prosperity.
International travel spending in Europe is expected to rise 11% to $838 billion this year, with Spain and France among the countries set to receive record numbers of tourists.
A protest in Lisbon is scheduled for later today.
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