13. On October 9, CNBC cited information from Spain’s National Institute of Statistics and reported that the number of overseas visitors to Spain in August was 70,000, a 6.3% increase over the same period last year. Of these, approximately 200,000 visitors came to regions including the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Andalusia.
The country in particular is recording record numbers of visitors. Tourism has increased since locals protested in popular tourist cities to protest against the influx of tourists to these places and its impact on their daily lives. Some tourists caused problems with protesters.
On March 6.7, people in Barcelona put up barricades around restaurants as they took to the streets to protest against tourists.
On June 7th, thousands of people took to the streets in Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) to protest. Some tourists even got into a physical fight after being shot with water guns. It was thought that the wave of protests by local residents would reduce the number of tourists, but the reality showed somewhat the opposite.
The areas where protests were held, including Mallorca (Balearic Islands), Barcelona, and Andalusia on the south coast, were among the busiest in Spain.
travel news site Shift September 9 A survey released by Mallorca’s tourism board found that 89% of American tourists were either unaware or uninterested in the city’s protests. Meanwhile, Booking.com, Europe’s largest travel agency, said there had been no significant change in booking frequency in Mallorca or Barcelona following the protests.
Barcelona protest groups have called on local officials to stop overtourism, even as their movement says they “don’t want to end anything”. Protesters demanded that Barcelona authorities halt airport expansion plans, reduce the number of marinas, limit the short-term rental market and stop promoting tax-funded tourism.
A Barcelona City Council spokesperson told CNBC that managing tourism is one of the key priorities as the city approaches its annual visitor limit of 170,000.
“Tourism is a strategic industry for the city’s economy. “Assessing the success of tourism in Barcelona cannot only focus on visitor numbers, but also managing the flow of people so that social and environmental limits are not exceeded,” the spokesperson said.
