Activists fired water pistols at a tour bus outside Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia to call out against mass tourism – as they warned of bigger protests this summer.
The latest anti-tourism protest took place on Sunday as campaigners continue to demand ‘the detouristification’ of the city and its economy.
Footage showed activists blocking the tourist vehicle and squirting it with water pistols, as they chanted: ‘Tourists go home!’
‘We are here because we are fed up that tourism is always on top of this economic model’, one demonstrator told Reuters.
Activists also covered the window of the bus with a banner that read: ‘Turn off the tourist focus.’
The Assembly of Neighbourhoods for the Decrease in Tourism – who organised the protest – said on X: ‘We blocked a tourist bus and demonstrated with water pistols’, and said 24 people were arrested.
The group also announced that a bigger protest is set to take place on June 15 ‘to put an end to the tourist fire that is sweeping the planet, and to initiate once and for all the essential socio-economic transformation of the territories it exploits.’
Protestors are expected to gather in several cities across Spain.
Activists fired water pistols at a tour bus outside Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia on Sunday to call out against mass tourism
Footage showed activists blocking the tourist vehicle and squirting it with water as they urged tourists to ‘go home’
Protestors warned of bigger protests across Spain next month
Anti-tourism campaigners have long been contesting the current tourism model, claiming that many locals have been priced out by holidaymakers, expats and foreign buyers.
Last year, Spain saw a record-breaking number of tourists, with over 15 million visitors flocking to the island of Mallorca alone.
In response, protestors took to the streets across Spain, leaving countless visitors fuming after paying hundreds of pounds to enjoy their holidays abroad.
Actions included marches on the street with protesters chanting ‘tourists go home’, as well as demonstrations on beaches which saw locals boo and jeer at sun-soaked tourists.
In one particular instance, up to 50,000 locals descended onto the streets of the Mallorca capital Palma.
Representatives of the protest groups who took part in Sunday’s demonstration also said in a joint statement: ‘For decades, the exploitation of tourism in our territories has provoked reactions and mobilisations against it, but those of last summer represented a significant leap in both quality and quantity’.
‘Our territories are not for sale and that it is urgent to put limits on the growth of tourism, in demanding a change of course and in pointing out the path of tourism de-growth as a way out’, the statement added.
The protest on Sunday was not the first time holidaymakers visiting the Spanish city were terrorised by anti-tourism protestors.
It comes nearly a year after tourists in Barcelona were drenched in water by protestors as they enjoyed their evening meals
Last year, thousands of protestors marched through central Barcelona as they drenched visitors as they dined in outdoor restaurants across popular tourist hot-spots.
Under the slogan ‘Enough! Let’s put limits on tourism’, some 2,800 people – according to police – marched along a waterfront district of Barcelona to demand a new economic model that would reduce the millions of tourists that visit every year.
Protesters carried signs reading ‘Barcelona is not for sale,’ and, ‘Tourists go home,’ before some used water guns on tourists eating outdoors at restaurants in popular tourist hotspots.
Chants of ‘Tourists out of our neighbourhood’ rang out as some stopped in front of the entrances to hotels.
Angry Spaniards have also been turning to artificial intelligence to express their discontent over mass tourism
Residents of the Mallorcan town of Soler have started a campaign called ‘Welcome to Sollerland’ satirising the influx of foreign visitors
Sunday’s protest also comes weeks after tens of thousands of furious Spaniards took to the streets across the country to demand a solution to a housing crisis that they say has been fuelled by mass tourism.
The demonstrations in major Spanish towns and cities including Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga and Palma de Mallorca came as the country finds itself struggling to balance the promotion of tourism and addressing citizens’ concerns over increasing housing costs.
Angry Spaniards have also been turning to artificial intelligence to express their discontent over what they consider an invasion by tourists.
Residents of the Mallorcan town of Soler have started a campaign called ‘Welcome to Sollerland’, which refers to their town as a tourist theme park.
AI-generated images have been posted online, which show a child on a beach saying ‘I used to play here’, while another shows an adult in a square saying ‘I used to have a coffee here’ against backdrops of streets and beaches crowded by tourists.
Another picture shows a local wearing a T-shirt with the slogan ‘I was from here’, as he is surrounded by swarms of holidaymakers.
