Spanish people chase away tourists, but more come

CNBC on October 13 quoted information from the Spanish National Statistics Institute saying that 10.9 million international tourists visited the country in August, up 7% compared to the same period last year. Of these, about 6.3 million came to the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Andalusia.

Notably, the country recorded an increase in tourists after protests by local residents in popular tourist cities, protesting the influx of tourists to these places, affecting daily life. Some tourists got into trouble with protesters.

People in Barcelona on July 6th put up a barricade around a restaurant while taking to the streets to protest against tourists.

Thousands of people took to the streets of Barcelona (in Catalonia, Spain) on July 6 to protest. Tourists were shot with water cannons and got into fights. The wave of protests by local residents was thought to reduce the number of tourists, but in reality, the opposite has been true.

The protest sites, which include Mallorca (Balearic Islands), Barcelona and the southern coast region of Andalusia, are among the most popular tourist destinations in Spain.

Travel news site Skift in September A survey published by the Mallorca tourist board found that 89% of American tourists were unaware or unconcerned about the protests in the city. Meanwhile, leading European travel company Booking.com said there had been no significant changes in bookings for Mallorca or Barcelona following the protests.

The Barcelona protesters said their move “doesn’t want to end anything,” but instead make demands on local officials to tackle overtourism. They are demanding that Barcelona halt plans to expand the airport, reduce the number of marinas, restrict the short-term rental market and end tax-funded tourism promotion.

A Barcelona city council spokesman told CNBC that managing tourism is one of the main priorities, as the city approaches its limit of 17 million visitors per year.

"Tourism is a strategic sector for the city's economy . The success of tourism in Barcelona cannot be measured solely by the number of visitors, but by managing the flow of people so as not to exceed social and environmental limits," the spokesman said.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/dan-tay-ban-nha-duoi-khach-du-lich-nguoi-den-lai-cang-dong-hon-185241014201904135.htm