On July 6, thousands of anti-tourism protesters marched through the streets of Barcelona, shouting: “Tourists go home!”
More than a month later, Spain’s tourist board sent a mass email with a different message: “Spain: the summer you want to repeat every year… We can’t wait to see you!”
Tourists caught in the crossfire of Barcelona’s July protests – some of whom endured water cannons and videotaped confrontations – may be reluctant to return. But data shows others are not scared away.
The number of international tourists visiting Spain continued to increase this summer, with approximately 10.9 million international tourists arriving in August, an annual increase of 7%, according to the Spanish National Institute of Statistics.
Three of the most popular destinations are where protesters marched this year.
Data show that about 2.4 million international tourists visited the Balearic Islands, where Mallorca is located, in August, a 4% increase from the same period in 2023. Another 2.3 million foreigners traveled to Catalonia, where Barcelona is located, a 6% increase from 2023.
According to a survey released by the Mallorca Tourist Board, 89% of U.S. tourists said they were unaware of or did not care about the protests taking place in Mallorca this year, according to travel news website Skift.
Nearly 70% of those aware of the demonstrations said it had “no impact” on their travel intentions, Changes reported.
“Bookings bounce back”
Most tourists to Spain are European. However, Booking.com, Europe’s largest online travel agency by market share, said CNBC Travel said there have been no meaningful changes to bookings to Mallorca or Barcelona following the protests.
But RateGain, a software company that processes transaction and interest data for the global travel industry, said searches and bookings in Barcelona had been “significantly impacted” following the July 6 protests.
However, the effect is short-lived. “We observed a 23% drop in hotel bookings and a 35% drop in search activity within 7 to 10 days of the event,” a company representative told CNBC.
Within six weeks, “bookings rebounded.”
“It’s not over yet”
Daniel Pardo Rivacoba, a member of the Assembly of Neighborhoods for Tourism Degrowth, the group behind the protests, said the July 6 protests in Barcelona “were not everything Finish” .
Rather, it is a step toward the organization’s larger goals— Published list of 13 demands – Calls on Barcelona officials to cancel plans to expand the city’s airport, reduce the number of cruise terminals near the city, limit the short-term rental market and end the city’s tax-funded tourism promotions.
A tourist takes a photo of a message at Park Guell. Anti-tourism organizers have called for a 50% reduction in daily ticket sales at the site, one of Barcelona’s top tourist attractions.
Jose Prago | AFP | Getty Images
Rivacoba told CNBC Travel that the Barcelona city council did not respond directly to the July 6 protests but has since announced new measures aimed at addressing overtourism, including a 135-page document released on September 6. Government Tourism Management Measures 2024-2027”. 17.
The measure lists 55 actions to help achieve a better balance between visitors and residents.
Sign for German tourists on the Balearic Islands of Mallorca on August 11, 2024.
Clara Magas | Image Alliance | Getty Images
But Rivakoba said it was all just “cosmetic speech and social cleansing”.
A spokesperson for Barcelona City Council told CNBC Travel that managing the city’s tourism industry is one of the city’s top priorities as the city “has reached its annual cap of 17 million tourists.”
“Tourism is of strategic importance to the city’s economy and therefore accounts for 14% of GPD,” the spokesman said. “The measure of Barcelona’s tourism success cannot be focused on visitor numbers, but on managing the flow of people so as not to exceed social and environmental limits.”
Manage visitor traffic This strategy is rapidly gaining popularity as a strategy to mitigate overtourism Sensor usage and cellphone monitoring tools provide instant crowd data.
He said that was not good enough for the Rivakoba group, which advocates reducing tourist numbers.
Regarding the city council’s recent decision to increase the nighttime tourism surcharge by 4 euros ($4.38), Rivacoba said, “This is by no means a measure to reduce tourism, but to raise more funds.”
“Win the fight”
Despite claims of huge influx of summer tourists humiliated protesterRivakoba said they were enthusiastic.
“The perception of tourism in Barcelona has changed a lot, from the official statement ‘tourism is good for everyone’, which is no longer credible to anyone, to…’tourism has gone too far. ‘,” he said.
On September 7, 2024, dozens of Barcelona residents protested against the America’s Cup.
Marc Asensio | Noor Photos | Getty Images
Rivakoba said more than 15,000 people participated in the march on July 6 local media The number was reported to be around 3,000.
He also said media coverage of overtourism has changed. “Not so long ago, we were abused or outright ignored,” he said. But he said the group received sympathy and solidarity from local and international journalists during and after the July march.
“Both of these things prove that we are winning this fight to some extent,” he said.
Who leads?
Residents will be the biggest force in changing Barcelona’s mass tourism problem, the Community Congress for Tourism Development said on its website.
It noted that more regions are mobilizing and “joint dates are being set for major mobilizations, our organizational meetings and a common strategy.”
As for whether more protests are being organized: “Yes, of course,” Rivakoba said.
On September 27, 2024, the outer wall of the Barcelona Tourism Office was covered with banners, stickers and placards to protest against “World Tourism Day”.
Paco Freire | Sopa Images | Light Rocket | Getty Images
Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel weighed in on the protests, telling CNBC Travel on Sept. 6 that they were not “the most effective way” to address overtourism and could even “create mistakes.” effect”.
He said mitigating overtourism “is really the government’s responsibility” but that solving the problem would require collaboration between governments, travelers, residents and tourism companies.
“Everyone benefits financially from incoming tourists,” Fogel said.
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