STORY: :: Thousands of demonstrators take to Barcelona’s
streets to protest against mass tourism in the city
:: July 6, 2024
“We come here to demonstrate against mass ‘touristification’ here in Barcelona. The last years the city has turned completely for tourists and what we want is a city for citizens and not in service of tourists.”
“Restaurants and hotels is the group that makes really big money, but all the people are in a very poor situation and they don’t have enough money to live. That’s a problem.”
Protesters carried signs reading “Barcelona is not for sale,” and, “Tourists go home,” before some hit tourists with water guns while they dining outdoors.
Rents rose by 18% in June from a year earlier in popular tourist cities such as Barcelona and Madrid, according to the property website Idealista.
Barcelona’s mayor, Jaume Collboni, announced a plan in June to phase out all short-term rental leases by 2028, an unexpectedly drastic move by the authorities who seek to rein in soaring housing costs and make the city liveable for its permanent residents.