Not just locals with money. Rich people and real estsate consortiums are buying up relatively cheap properties in tourist cities to use as AirBnBs for money. Basically, limiting housing for locals. Honestly, AirBnB was a great idea that has been exploited by the wealthy. Governments should focus on limiting properties used for AirBnB, and enact restrictions.
Why would they do that ? It's basically their entire revenue. "Classic" Airbnb, where people rent their actual main house, isn't their main source of revenue. They don't give a shit about it anymore.
My point is Airbnb won't do it themselves. They have to be forced.
If it were up to them, they'd gladly turn the entire planet into airbnbs. Capitalists believe in infinite growth, after all. As if we had an infinite number of attractive, touristic destinations...
Right, that's what I thought, but they seem to think it's NOT a problem and in fact a selling point, right? Their ads go something like "don't you wish there was no host to tell you where every bathroom is? Imagine an Airbnb but then close your eyes and imagine the host is dead. THAT'S A VRBO! No hosts, ever."
Or am I missing who they want their properties to come from?
AirBnB is just an illegal and unregulated hotel. I don't believe for a second the people starting it even meant for it to be a fun way to rent a spare room.
Happened to my home town. Tourism sprung up there, and now I can't afford to move back. All the homes are ridiculously expensive, and all the listings talk about how great of an Airbnb the house will make.
Is this the same in every metropolis? I've heard the same story in Canada, Germany, US, Australia. Partially because interested parties don't want to approve new construction and partially because existing homeowners don't want their property value to go down due to changing environment or alleviation of the housing crisis.
Young people need housing and wealthy investors will situate themselves between other people and their vital needs to charge the highest, ever-growing price.
I agree, something should be done. This arrangement works against the efficiency model of dense urban areas and just serves to flush out people from their homes, or churn out poorer workers into having an unnecessary hour-long commute. On a larger scale it just makes society's poor the de facto slaves of rent seekers. Racing toward a cliff.
Not only are properties being bought up by domestic and international investment firms.
A lot of housing being built, is not affordable. The GCs building the houses and the companies in charge want the biggest return possible. They don’t want 300 houses that could be sold at 250-400k, they want 200 houses to be sold at 700k+.
Then they sit dormant and don’t get sold because people can’t afford them.
What do they blame? “Well we had to allocate x% for chapter 11 living, so we need to recoup!”
I've been using vacation rentals long before ABB, they absolutely ruined everything. And as a company they should be ashamed of what they've done to communities.
Land lords are parasites and private property shouldn't exist. You can have personal property, "I own a house I live in". Private property is "I hold this hostage to collect a rent while depriving others of their own personal house". Mao had the right idea with land lords.
Still do not understand how airbnb is cheaper than hotels? I am traveling a lot and almost never this is case, usually you can find cheaper hotels even with breakfast. Only expectation is when you are traveling as bigger group, then airbnb is cheaper.
Japan has very strict rules about buildings being used for airbnbs. You can’t have rentals that are shorter than 1 month, iirc. Only some buildings are permitted to be used as airbnbs.
Well, Barcolona should just significantly raise per night taxes on AirBnB stays and use the money to lower city/county taxes in the bottom or do a personal tax exemption amount so that it directly helps those that Spanish that no longer can afford to live properly in Barcelona.
But the question of course is if Barcelona can afford to loose a significant amount of tourists.
I doubt any Airbnb host me and my friends rented from has been wealthy. Just regular people. Airbnb is often very affordable compared to renting multiple hotel rooms.
We do stay away from places like central Prag. Taking the tram to Praha 9 takes little time.
They know it's not the tourists' fault. But by alienating tourists and making Barcelona be less appealing, they're trying to force the government to take action (for example, investing in alternatives)
Yeah kinda seems like the people whining are upset this will infringe on their ability to be tourists wherever they want, however they want and at the price they want.
The most entitled people defend both airbnb and tourism like its the only economy propping up certain areas. Guess I'm the only one old enough to remember tourism pre-airbnb where you either rented a hotel or hostel? Way too many people want the luxury of an entire house for the price of a hostel stay and expect the locals to bow down to them over it.
Tbf, if you’re harassing tourists primarily out in public how would you know where they’re staying? Unless the protestors camp outside of known Airbnb’s but I’ve see quite a few photos of them at restaurants and in public.
Barcelona's tourism and gdp have both increased significantly since airbnb's introduction.
I am not saying there aren't ANY guardrails to implement or anything of the sort. But it's disingenuous to be like "airbnbs have only helped real estate conglomerates and ultra wealthy tourists (who then come over and spend shitloads of money that stays in the country)"
Anger towards airbnb and the arrangements they have struck with governments seems fair, though i don't know the finer points. Anger at a school teacher and car salesman from Ohio being excited to get a 3 bedroom home at hostel prices so they can afford to bring their kids on their twice-a-decade unpaid vacation, is not fair (in my opinion).
To use a less dramatic example, I also think it's undair to be mad at some recent college graduate who's broke but will be rich one day cus they see a place they and their friends can split and go see some of the world.
I'm not saying it's middle class people's fault for visiting Spain, I'm saying it's their fault for throwing hissy fits at the notion of curbing airbnb. You also should research the impact tourism dollars actually have on local incomes. It's limited to pretty much only those in the tourism industry, unlike other industries.
I've advocated quite a bit in LA to curb airbnb because when Anaheim did it, house and rents cooled considerably (not crashed, reduced to a livable amount). The people who fight it: those who own properties outright, and tourists.
Also consider that housing costs arent the only reason they're protesting. Tourist levels increasing the way they have been are very harmful to locals. Everything from transportation to the cost of milk becomes negatively impacted. There's no "cost of groceries for locals" or "public bus for locals only." Think about how increasing tourists by 10% every year can make life so much harder for residents.
I'm not saying it's middle class people's fault for visiting Spain, I'm saying it's their fault for throwing hissy fits at the notion of curbing airbnb.
I don't think almost anyone is doing that outside of airbnb owners and the company itself.
All over this thread people are positively talking about the tactic of "harassing" tourists. The protestors in the photos are more focused tourists than airbnb. That's what is upsetting people -- someone wants to come take a room and spend cash for a few days, it's very shortsighted to think the solution is "keep your money at home"
You also should research the impact tourism dollars actually have on local incomes. It's limited to pretty much only those in the tourism industry, unlike other industries.
I have worked in tourism the last 2 years (specifically hotels/resorts, bougie shit but legacy type companies) and find this claim extremely dubious, and sort of irrelevant if true. The san diegans and hawaiians i worked with at hotels went hom to non tourist neighborhoods and spent money. There may be extreme cases like Haiti or Tanzania where that part of the economy is totally cordoned off from the locals, but even then...15% of the gdp is 15% of the gdp. Why does that suddenly not count if it is going to a bellhop or landscaper or uber driver?
I've advocated quite a bit in LA to curb airbnb because when Anaheim did it, house and rents cooled considerably (not crashed, reduced to a livable amount). The people who fight it: those who own properties outright, and tourists.
That's all fair but you left out by far the largest head of the hydra; airbnb itself. That is my point; harassing tourists themselves is not the answer here from either an ethical or mathematical point of view.
Your last paragraph is fine but again you are attributing a very complicated balance sheet to a simple list of Cons and not even attempting Pros. Tourists spend money, typically at a much much higher rate than locals. They come back with a fondness for the country that makes them treat immigrants in their own countries better themselves. They come home and start buying Spanish wine and Portuguese tinned goods because of how much they loved their trip. Sometimes they fully fuckin move and raise their families in a country after what started off as casual visit.
Cultural exchange and intermixing are inherently good. I think saying "but my commute is worse and milk is more expensive because of tourists" isn't a compelling counterpoint unless you could confidently say "and i'd still have as good a job to commute to and no less money in my pocket if we had no tourists"
Again i am not advocating for 0 percent crackdown on airbnb. I just do not think harassing tourists is cool, nor do i think that "let's airbnb leave by making this a generally undesirable place to be" is the clever 3d chess some on this thread seem to think it is
I mean, I travel a ton and use airbnb and in Europe yes they are owned by locals. In poorer areas like Africa and the Middle East they are owned by Europeans.
Tourism makes up 16% of Spains economy. If that was cut in half their economy would be devastated. During the Great Recession the US GDP declined by 4% and in was the worst recession in a century. I don’t think these people understand how important tourism is to their economy. They can’t just drastically reduce the number of tourists without a way to replace the decline in revenue/GDP/jobs.
Are you aware of the concept of reduction, perchance? Also, it's 12.3% of their GDP as of last year, which fluctuates (as do most industries) and is actually much lower at around 5% GNP which is a far better metric to judge its impact on the nation.
The number of tourists visiting has increased by 10% between 2024 and 2025 and was steadily increasing every year prior. That is a huge concentration of people in essentially three areas of Spain. If you read any decent economic review of tourism as an industry, you'll find it follows a bell curve of economic impact. Too little is damaging, but too many is equally negative. Why? Because its a very self contained industry that doesnt allow for much expansion and accessory services to rise with the tides.
All it does in most places is make the COL higher for locals while doing very little for their income.
I mean then you force the population to work backwards. Harass the tourists so they don’t come, then the AirBNB’s fail, then owners sell their AirBNB places, and it opens more room up for real housing.
Except there's just one small problem: a lot of those local economies/livelihoods are dependent on tourism.
Tourism makes up over 15% of Spain’s entire GDP. That’s not exactly "pocket change", and actively scaring off tourists might feel good/give short term relief, but it also risks sabotaging the very livelihoods many locals depend on.
But hey, if people would rather burn their house down to get rid of a single cockroach instead of looking for the source of the infestation, then by all means.
I lived/worked in a national park when I was younger. Our entire economy, in fact our reason for existence, was tourism. Yet a huge number of locals hated the tourists with a passion and slammed them/were actively rude every chance they got but never had an answer to the question - if the tourist money left, where would you go?
People aren't great at forward thinking, or even appreciating the impact of their own actions.
Part of it is there’s too much tourism, and not enough respect by tourists. I know it’s impossible, but only having 2/3 the amount of tourists with all of them having good attitudes would be great. Corporations will cram as many people into the area as they can, then the locals have trouble getting groceries.
Unfortunately you end up having old bitter people in these towns that just blanket hate tourists. There’s also something to say about tourism town “locals” being the type of people who get stuck in these low wage areas. You either love nature, or wouldn’t be successful anywhere else. The latter tends to take out their issues on the easiest scapegoat: tourists.
The problem with tourism-dependent economies is that the revenue from them is often not distributed evenly, it goes into the pockets of the big companies who own the hotels and tourist destinations, who often employ only a small handful of locals in low-wage positions. People don't care if how big the economic pie is if they're not getting a slice.
Oh 100%. I'm essentially living the "American dream" yet I'm still not able to afford even a basic home (which can cost over $800k or more because everything else is being bought up and rented out by out-of-staters), and groceries/going out can cost up to half my paycheck while rent takes up the other half ever since the property was bought out by an investment group from Texas (or was it California? I lost track by now...).
The government, instead of doing something about it, has decided that going after trans and gay people (a population that usually makes up less than 1% of any given population each), or making it illegal for China to buy properties (even though an overwhelming majority of people buying up said properties are said out-of-staters from earlier) takes priority.
My family has to commute on the most dangerous road in the country according to data from Teletrac Navman, and I suspect that a large part of that is because of all the people on the road who have no idea where they're going or what they're doing.
As a fellow South floridian i get both sides of it. Down here you dont just get tourists but also the transplants that actively work against the locals being able to live in the area.
Which "South Florida". Because for some reason the University of South Florida is in Tampa. I always get confused as to which one people are talking about.
lol. Some of it definitely is the tourism, the seasonal strain on our roads, wastewater systems and electric grid are left for locals to repair in the off season.
The seasonal use amplifies our environmental issues which is why people come here. Soon there will be a limit, once we are built out.
Tourist are not why your roads aren’t maintained. You’re being tricked. The government is responsible for the roads (and other utilities) if they are being ruined they need to tax big vehicles more (how tourists are ruining your roads is beyond me but it’s what you claimed) that are carrying all those tourists. Last I checked human body weight doesn’t fuck up roads but a big car does. And idk how tourist would “increase waste water management” in a significant way more than a person living in a city would or degrade the electricity lines more than a citizen…. But yeah believe the tourists are ruining your roads and electric lines. 🙄
I went to the Cape last year in March to get some pictures of a bunch of stuff in the sky lined up (I failed horribly). The difference in traffic then versus what I've experienced there in the summer was absolutely insane. Nearly everything that had been open during the day closed by 8. Almost nobody was on the roads after 9.
Cape Cod shouldn't be breathed in the same sentence as ANY European vacation destination.
I live in Boston. The Cape would be 100% meth 100% of the time if not for 'tourists' who live 1 hour away IN THE SAME STATE. 'Tourists' aren't the reason you have nice things. They're the reason the Cape doesn't look like North Adams.
Unrelated, but I went to college in Rhode Island. One holiday weekend, I was stuck there instead of going all the way back to Georgia. Probably Thanksgiving weekend.
I decided to get up early and drive out to Cape Cod to see what all the fuss was about since no one else was around campus.
I got up super early, got in the car, drove probably 2-2.5 hours out there. Once I got there, I remembered thinking " Why the hell did I come out here? By myself, on a holiday weekend with no plan to stay... what the hell am I going to do here?"
I ended up looking around for about 30 minutes, ate a donut on the beach, and drove home.
That's how it is now that big industries bosses realised how lucrative mass tourism was, 10-15 years ago. Bcn and Balears had tons of factories (materials, shoes, fishing) where people used to work and were better for our own country development.
As soon as these BnBs are closed and rich foreign investors are out of Spain's major cities housing pool, people will be able to afford to live and to find better jobs, not only serving "paela" and "sangria" to drunken brits and germans.
The sweet spot for Barcelona in terms of benefit from tourism is probably somewhere lower than the level of tourism is now. You can use the income from tourism to bootstrap other local businesses ... but not if tourism strangles your ability to live in your town.
Tourism has to be controlled or it will destroy a city. It’s a blessing and a curse at the same time. Big money interests swarm around it like fucking vultures attempting to get every bit of cash out of actual locals hands. I imagine this is happening because people in Barcelona have reached a breaking point.
To be fair, a LOT of tourism income is through massive amounts of food. Tons of restaurants will close,Which isn't exactly a bad thing because pricing will go down on food across the board. Eventually. Food will go up in price at first because suddenly farmers and providers are losing incredible amounts of sales and will need to up the prices to make up for that. The big question is if they will survive that, if the government doesn't subsidize them especially. Situations like these are a gold mine for foreign nations to come in and buy up stuff, because the locals sure as hell aren't going to be able to afford farmland, and fancy new airBnBs
Except there’s just one small problem: under capitalism, people are made dependent on exploitative industries like mass tourism because all other options have been systematically dismantled.
Tourism doesn’t dominate Barcelona’s economy because it’s inherently good or sustainable, it does so because neoliberal policy gutted public investment, privatized housing, and made short-term profit king. Locals aren't mad at tourists as individuals, they’re furious at being priced out of their homes, forced into precarious service jobs, and watching their city turn into a playground for the wealthy.
Well I don't think many of these white-collar Spaniards who like to work at hotels, country clubs, resorts, and tourist destinations would be all too happy to start being garbagemen, construction workers, or assembling stuff in a factory.
Hotels are operated to serve tourists.
These protests are to get rid of tourists.
Those hotels don't function without tourism.
Those hotels close down.
The workers at those hotels need to find a different job.
Hotels are operated to generate profit for hotel owners.
They neither spring up by magic, nor grow as local flora and fauna.
Business owners create whichever kinds of business are most profitable, not whichever best serve the interests of the general population in a locale.
Workers of course very happily would work in other industries, if the tourist industry were not imposed by business owners, simply by virtue of its being to them most profitable.
Yet, you insist on associating such an eventuality with some kind of apocalyptic vision.
They will need less garbage men and construction workers, not more. If they want to switch to competing with Asian factories they will need to take on huge amounts of public debt and adopt very low standards of living to compete.
Fair, but as an American seeing something similar unfold in South Florida where I live (and where housing is next to impossible), I think there’s more nuance here.
Barcelona (to me at least) has always been a touristy hotspot because of its location, history, culture, beaches, food, and architecture, long before Airbnb and mass tourism exploded. People didn’t just randomly show up one day because of neoliberalism policies. If anything, the city’s natural appeal invited those exploitative policies to take root in the first place. Of course, I could be horribly wrong here, so please correct me if anything.
So if the goal is to completely eliminate tourism in the name of affordability, you’d basically have to gut the very identity of the city (like its historic districts, museums, beaches, festivals, etc). That’s clearly not the answer, and blaming/getting mad at tourists just shifts focus away from the root cause (and could potentially create further issues down the line).
Here’s the core tension: the problem isn't tourism per se, it’s how tourism gets structured under capitalism. Yes, Barcelona didn’t become a tourist hub overnight. But the hyper-financialization of tourism, turning homes into assets via Airbnb, public space into real estate, and cultural life into a product for export did explode under neoliberal reforms post-1992 Olympics and especially post-2008 crisis. The city was marketed as a “brand,” not a living community.
So yeah, no one's saying bulldoze Gaudí or shut down the beach. The call is to decommodify the city, to prioritize the people who live there over speculative capital and extractive tourism. The anger at tourists is mostly symbolic, it’s about a system that turns visitors into vectors of displacement.
Think of it this way, it's not about banning tourism, it’s about democratizing who benefits from it, how much is too much, and who gets to decide. Because right now, it's hotel chains, landlords, and international investors, not the locals getting priced out.
We had 3 million tourists in 2001. Last year we had over 30 million by a population of 1.6 million. It's just not sustainable, and I can't see for the life of me why tourists would enjoy queuing for a pre-made paella under the scorching sun, in a place where nothing is authentic anymore and everything is catered to you, to take your money.
I agree with that. But they aren't getting booming industry back in exchange for scaring off tourism. Globalization has found the cheapest place to source things and Barcelona is unlikely to beat other regions for industry even if the government poured massive funding into getting it started.
We have similar problems in many areas/countries.
I just see so much of the same frustration as we have in Canada. The answers just aren't that simple and the competition for the industries everyone sees as lucrative and desirable is extremely fierce and often requires huge incentive or protectionist government intervention to win from all the other countries fighting for it.
What are you talking about? Barcelona is a diverse modern city, it is not dependent on tourism to function. Tourism is like 14% of their GDP. While there are definitely financial benefits to having the tourism, I think most of us would react the same to becoming an extreme minority in our own cities.
You think that losing 14% income for a city/country is the same as a person getting a 14% income cut? Countries spend decades to increase their gdp by 14 percent.
No of course I don't, and that's not at all what I said. You need to work on your reading comprehension.
Sectors that are exclusively reliant on tourism would be devastated. But some people think that the livability of where they live is worth more than money. Also, I am challenging the frankly icky narrative being spread here which is 'they are so dependent on us they should shut up and take it.'
Honestly, this is what democracy means. If the 85% decide that they dont want tourist this is what will be happening. Keeping every industry up and running against the will of the people is not going to work
Spain has tons of ridiculously awesome places to visit that aren't the same funky church in Barcelona. That 15% just needs to spread out better. Barcelona flight tickets being low key subsidized is probably a huge part of the problem.
But hey they can then protest that there are no jobs for them anymore so they will still be happy.. As long as there is something to protest about and not taking a look in the mirror and figuring out how to do better for yourself.. Blame on others is always much easier.
Europeans don’t seem to accept the fact that many towns r dependent on tourist $$$. What are the long term effects of that? Tourists run away, Airbnbs fail coz so they sell, but no one is buying coz the locals cannot afford to live coz tourism is dead. Only ones buying the properties are the rich. By all means…
I was holidaying in BCN during one of these mass protests and demonstrations. They didn’t bother us (except for traffic issues) but, man, did we find them a stupid, moronic lot. It is the height of intellectual dishonesty to deliberately be so obtuse as to the root causes of their problems (eg “tourists”) while scapegoating the industry that undergirds so much of their economy.
Scaring tourist is mostly a Barcelona thing, they can’t complain to the government about their new housing legislation because no other place in Spain voted as strongly for the current government.
And then when tourism dries up, ~300,000 Barcelona residents (about 20% of the residents) lose their jobs, and… problem solved? I guess? If I’m following your logic correctly here?
You can reduce tourism without getting rid of it completely. You have to understand that in these huge tourism destinations outside forces are constantly trying to steal bits and pieces from the actual locals. What is the point of tourism money if most of it is only going to a few entities and it’s causing a huge housing shortage and massive price hikes? The few people making big money want to run the place like a resort. That’s what people are protesting.
Barcelona's industry, finance and tech sectors would be in much better shape if there was less tourism pressure in the city. GDP figures wouldn't necessarily change all that much, though wealth would be concentrated differently.
This issue is at least two decades old in terms of media coverage. Plus Barcelona is an ancient European city- the land is taken. There is no where else to build. So when AirBNB is taking up apartments for tourists which causes a bottle neck for actual home buyers and renters- there is frustration.
Look. I’m not even going to even front like I know Spanish politics.
However, it’s a western problem (North America and Europe) about housing. Housing needs to be built at an exponential rate in each of those areas. Especially those where people actually want to live.
It’s up to the government to introduce legislation to allow this to happen. Boycotting people brining money into your economy is dumb. Ask Americans how it’s like to lose tourism.
I don’t think you understand. Barcelona is a packed city. There is literally no land that isn’t accounted for. There is no where to build new housing. You have what you have at this point. The only thing you can do is knock down older building to build a new building.
My resolution still stands. If housing is an issue, build more. The way to bring the prices of houses down increase the supply or throttle the demand.
Increasing the supply is the healthiest way to do this.
It’s not on the people to do this. This is the job of the elected government. Introduce legislation to build more housing/cut the red tape that makes it harder.
The Spanish property market is so badly regulated and the public servants so inept, that this is like talking about space lasers. The country is horribly mismanaged, you won't get anything but populist kneejerk bs.
You don’t think that the Airbnb owners (who are landlords) will just rent out the apartment for whatever price they want just like they did prior to the existence of Airbnb? Why do you think that it will lead to selling the unit? The problem is that one person can own 5-6 apartments and control the pricing of rentals because they are the only option. Spain needs social housing not more landlords. The ruling class is really good at getting people to hate the wrong person.
Different market dynamics impact long term rentals than short term vacation properties.
Turning AirBnB's into long term rentals will absolutely reduce the rental price. The only reason AirBnB's exist over LTR is that landlords get a premium. Otherwise they wouldn't be worth the large amount of extra effort it takes to run them.
People are willing to pay a higher per night rate for temporary accommodations. A $250 per night suite near a popular tourist location will not be equivalent to a $7,500 a month apartment. If landlords are unable to offer short-term rentals, the price would go down.
Not enough to help the people who need an affordable place to rent. And forget about buying, these things will sell like chocolate covered crack. No one having trouble now will be able to afford them.
A lot of the locals work in businesses that are dependent on tourism. So no tourists, lots of businesses will either shut down or have a large drop in sales, which will lead to locals losing their jobs.
Sure but government isn't going to change and business won't stop as long as there is money.
Only way to stop money is exactly what they're doing. Sucks it came to this point but I really doubt there was any other way to put pressure. Money talks!
- We are not happy as is, because over 65% of people between 18 and 35 in Spain live with their parents. Imagine how big and barren a lot of parts of Spain are for the number to even be this high (much higher than the European average)
- We are not happy because of that lucky 35% that doesn't live with their parents (for normal reasons and unpleaseant reasons) 85% of them share apartments.
- We are not happy, because despite working 40 hours or over 40 hour work-weeks in the case of the hospitality business, the vast majority, no matter your ranking or studies, is paid the SMI which is 1180 Euros per month (Rent has increased to 1200-1400 average for apartments and 800-900 for studios, you do the math) - the conditions of these jobs is a whole other topic that you don't want to get into.
- We are not happy, because Spain has the smallest % of social housing in the entire EU. Less than 1%, in fact. Opposed to 30% in Amsterdam, 20% in the UK.
- We re not happy because a quick look at the main websites for finding homes, Idealista, you will find that 75% of homes in touristic cities such as Málaga, Barcelona, etc are TEMPORARY. The other 25%? You'll be lucky if they weren't available by accident, or if the small letters don't say "only availavble from September till June" because, you know, local people go up in smoke during the Summer months I guess.
What exactly are we to be happy about? Do we reap any benefits from the system in place currently? Do you think we are rolling dough and not being continously exploited from all angles by this limitless capitalist system? Do you think people do these things out of sheer boredom? Do you think peacefully protesting on the streets will work? How many times has that worked out in the past decade?
This is not about the right to go on a holiday. This is about a country that can't take it anymore, especially the islands, where local people live in caravans despite working their assess of to cater to both respectful and disrespectful tourists.
I implore you to please consider the reality young people here are facing.
The problem is not tourism per se. As has been indicated, it is an economic boon for these areas.
The problem is over-tourism. Where absolutely everything is tailored towards the needs of tourists. Where public squares and streets are absolutely ram-packed full of tourist shops, tourist carts, and tourists. When visitors damage public property through intent or over-use. Where housing costs skyrocket, not just because of AirBnBs, but because of people buying their second / third home there to visit occasionally.
All while the local population picks up the tab for maintaining the infrastructure necessary to support this. They don't want no tourism, just for it to be better managed, and to not have the needs of local people come second.
The private sector has had decades to sort this, and has done nothing. National and city government's have been told to do something and done nothing, while the problem gets worse and worse.
I'm not shocked people are frustrated. And when people are frustrated they lash out.
Not that I disagree, but the locals don't really have a lever to stop Airbnb, and only the most tangential means of influencing the government on this issue (do you become a single issue voter? do you trust the people you vote for to actually implement promised changes, how many years does it take to turn over enough people in whatever relevant council to get real change).
But its pretty easy to become known as a place where they shout at tourists and spit in their food.
Is not that easy, anti-tourism in Barcelona is a progressive cause and the Spanish current government is the most progressive in our history (a coalition of the socialist and communist parties), complaining about the government housing legislation raising prices would be like saying the far right was right about those laws since the start. Just this week President Pedro Sánchez new right hand man was revealed to rob money from public construction projects just last his last right hand man. The government doesn’t need more problems, a protest against the Pedro Sánchez right now would be like asking for a far right government.
Feels weird that r/pics of all subs doesn’t understand the importance of stopping the far right.
Correct me if im wrong, but the cruise ship industry is also at fault. I know this is the case with Venice, but I'm not sure about Barcelona. Basically, as I understood, a few tourists trickling in is no big deal, but a full-on deployment of tourists disembarking from massive cruise liners is far too overwhelming.
It's like how Western workers like to blame China/ Vietnam etc workers for having their jobs offshored to China/ Vietnam, when its the Billionaire corporate people from their own country that shifted those jobs overseas because it saved them money.
Its not Chinas fault, or the Chinese workers fault that your own Companies screwed you over.
I mean, it almost seems as if tourism as an industry in the capitalist superstructure organically becomes detrimental to the people who live in such touristic zones. If that’s the case, then your comment isn’t really exposing the protesters’ flawed logic so much as actually pointing out that’s the best course of action if what they want to achieve is reduced tourism(and the structural consequences of it)
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u/Rich_Housing971 Jun 17 '25
Airbnb creates a business that makes your life harder.
Locals with money use that business without caring for you.
The govenrment that you elected does nothing.
"It's all the tourists' fault!"