Madrid
Protests against mass tourism are more alive than ever and more and more citizens are joining the demands for a decent and affordable life in their cities, occupied and almost entirely destined for tourists. At the same time, political disputes over the regulation of political flats and the so-called, Airbnb are on the agenda every day. These circumstances affect those who live in cities, who suffer from excessive increases in rents and the continuous reduction in the supply of apartments for rent, which are increasingly destined for tourists.
Faced with these realities, the American media The New York Times He visited Ibiza in the middle of the tourist season and denounced a reality that, although well known, has no solution, nor is one in sight in the short term.
“Essential workers have nowhere to live”
On the island, they have heard the story of some workers who “live in tents, shacks and caravans.” These tents and shacks are found in the “tent cities” from which the settlers are often evicted by police officers. One of the stories that most impacts the American media is that of Alicia Bocuñano who, according to her, was born on the island but is now unable to survive there.
“She spent two weeks sleeping in a car,” the report says, before continuing with the story. “She then lived for three months in a tent with her 10-year-old son, Raul, before buying a used caravan.” The origin of the problem of accommodation for this citizen is a practice that is “not entirely legal,” it denounces again. The New York Times. “They asked for a deposit and more than six months’ rent before moving into the apartment they wanted to rent.”
But, in addition to this story, the newspaper highlights other faces who experience similar housing problems. For example, that of María Fernanda Chica, a young woman who lived with her son and husband in a crowded apartment, where “people slept in shifts in the ‘hot beds’ and for which they paid 300 euros a month.”
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Alejandro Inurrieta: “Tourism is destroying cities”
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“Nurses and doctors face a similar reality,” she writes, not hiding her indignation. The New York Times“This affects the level of public services.”
Wealthy tourists fill beachfront hotels and trendy nightclubs
What most draws the attention of the well-known US media is the coexistence of “rich tourists” who “fill the beachfront hotels and trendy nightclubs” with those who, as they illustrate, “teachers, firefighters and other essential workers on the island who cannot find a place to live.”
This massive influx of tourists, they explain, has brought with it an “increase in short-term rentals that have removed many apartments from the market” and this “exacerbates the existing shortage caused by land use restrictions on an island appreciated for its natural beauty.”
This visit of The New York Times It has served to put the international spotlight on the problem affecting the island of Ibiza, but also many other Spanish cities where young and working residents are unable to cope with the high costs of rent and a life that has been geared solely to the arrival of tourists. One more example of the dependence of the Spanish economy on this sector, which continues to undermine the rest.
