The participants of the rally and residents are repelled to tourism in Barcelona

When the participants of the rally went through Central Barcelona on Sunday, they shouted at tourists who shot them on “Go home!”.

The embarrassed couples sitting in street cafes came to the water pistols, and the luxury clothing store was installed by stickers that announced tourists who closed themselves unwanted.

Tourism is very important for Spain, and Barcelona is the main place for visitors. But the crowds grow so fast that many locals complain that they are squeezed out of their cities.

Here and in popular places across southern Europe, residents are pushing back.

“We can’t live in this city. The rent is super high from the BNB, as well as the exhibits coming and living here for the weather,” Marina explained, holding her own banner when the crowd gathered.

He announced that “Your Airbnb was my home before.”

Other signs urged to ban the gigantic cruise ships that went here, and one announced that excessive tourism is “killing” the city.

“Our goal is not to stop tourism because it is also good, but to have it at the usual speed,” Marina said.

The route of the rally was torn apart by one of Barcelona’s largest attractions, the exalted Church of Sagrada Familia developed by the Catalan architect Gaudi.

Last year, the combination of stunning architecture, SEA and Sun attracted more than 15 million visitors to the city, almost ten times more local population. No wonder it feels tension.

“We are not against individual tourists, it is about how we manage this,” said Elena, a young marine biologist.

“Young people cannot afford to live here or even ordinary things, such as coffee that are all really expensive for our salaries.”

It’s not just young fighting.

At the age of 80, Pepi Viu has just been evicted from home for almost a decade in a popular neighborhood. She believes that the owner wanted to earn a more rent than the pensioner could pay.

Now the PEPI is in the hostel, and looking for somewhere more suitable, but the prices have increased by almost 70% since the last time it rented.

“I can’t find anything – and no support. I feel that I have no protection and it is upsetting,” she says, fragile and leaning on the stick. “Now there are only tourist apartments, but we, residents, need to live somewhere!”

In some parts of the city, almost all locals, such as PEPI, have already been put forward.

But in the narrow paved street Gothic quarter, right in the tourist heart of Barcelona, ​​Joan Alvarez is fighting for holding the apartment he has rented for 25 years, and at the price he can afford.

His landlord stopped the contract, but Joan refuses to leave.

Most apartments in its building are already divided into single numbers to bring more rent.

A little Joan oasis, with tile floors and a terrace that looks toward the cathedral is one of the few still intact.

“It is not just about money, it is a principle,” he explains, cats are scrolled through houseplants when he talks. “This is Central Barcelona, ​​and it is unlikely that any of us is left. It should not be like that.”

“Housing should not be a big business. Yes, it’s his property, but it’s my home.”

Under the pressure of protests, the authorities in Barcelona have already taken a radical step to announce a complete ban on short -term lease to tourists since 2028.

10,000 landlords will lose licenses for tourist housing.

But Jesus Pereda, who owns two popular tourist apartments near Sagrada, believes that this is the wrong answer.

“They stopped issuing new licenses 10 years ago, but the rent still increased. So how are we guilty? We’re just an easy enemy,” he insists.

Apartment management is his work that provides profits for himself and his wife. “Now we have anxiety.”

Jesus believes that these are “nomads” moving from other places in Europe, which push the rent, not tourists. “They earn and pay more. You can’t stop it.”

He claims that tourist apartments, as his help, were distributed by the crowd, and cash, to other parts of the city. Without tourism, he believes that in Barcelona there will be an “existential crisis” – it is up to 15% of the Gross domestic product of Spain (GDP) as a whole.

If he loses his tourist license, Jesus will by no means not take on local tenants: the price excess means that long -term rent is practically not profitable, so he plans to sell both apartments.

The protest in Barcelona ended with the singing “You’re all Giris!” – Local slang for foreigners – and firecrackers. Red smoke rose in front of the ranks of the police officing all the routes to Sagrada Familia.

A little earlier, the crowd aimed at a busy hotel, pushing the flash into the lobby. Tourists inside, including children, were clearly shaken.

There were similar protests elsewhere in Spain and more crowds in Portugal and Italy: not huge but loud and persistent.

Concerns are the same and there is no consensus on how best to decide. But Spain is waiting for more tourists this summer than if you are.

Escribano Escribano reporting app and Bruno Boelpaep