Citizens of Barcelona, Spain’s largest tourist city, are trying to drive away the influx of tourists by spraying them with water.
On the 9th, CNN reported that Barcelona residents have been patrolling popular tourist spots like Las Rambla, shouting at tourists to go home and even shooting them with water guns.
Barcelona, with its beautiful coastlines, prestigious soccer team FC Barcelona, parks, markets, and other attractions, is a popular destination for tourists. Of the 85 million visitors to Spain last year, 12 million visited Barcelona alone.
Residents are reportedly using red tape to block access to restaurants and hotels in the northeastern region of the city.
While the money spent by tourists is beneficial for the local economy, Barcelona residents are becoming increasingly sensitive to the influx of tourists due to rising housing-related costs.
Last year alone, rental prices increased by 18%, contributing to a 68% rise over the past decade.
During this period, housing prices increased by 38%, leading residents to complain that the city was becoming too expensive to live in.
In response, last month, Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni decided to ban the rental of 10,000 tourist apartments from 2028.
Until now, tourist apartments have been seen as the major culprit in dampening the housing market.
This is not the first time there has been a backlash against the influx of tourists in Spain.
In April, 57,000 people protested in the Canary Islands. There were also anti-tourist protests led by more than 100 groups in Majorca and Malaga in May and June, respectively.
