Hotels in Barcelona stand firm against water gun attacks by anti-tourism protesters

Last Saturday, nearly 3,000 anti-tourism demonstrators took to the busy streets of Barcelona to protest against mass tourism and the gentrification that is pushing locals out of their neighborhoods.

So far in 2024, thousands of Spaniards in the Canary and Balearic Islands, Girona, Málaga and Costa del Sol have also raised concerns about the same issues.

But no protest had captured the attention of the international media as much as this particular protest. Why?

This time, Protesters in Barcelona went a step further, firing water pistols at tourists drinking food and drinks on famous terraces, and criss-crossing tape over the doors of some hotels and bars.

All this while holding up banners with the messages ‘Tourists go home’, ‘Barcelona is not for sale’ and ‘Barcelona is not Disneyland’.

Not everyone in town agreed. Barcelona’s hotel guild said in a statement these types of actions are simply ‘unacceptable’.

According to a local media outletAccording to the business group, there were demonstrations “promoted by a very limited number of local residents with particular views on specific social movements.”

The group added that Barcelona still is “a very hospitable city for visitors, and there is no general feeling against tourism,” and stated that tourism has positive impacts on different levels of society.

“There is a need to highlight the positive impact of tourism on aspects such as the economy, labor, social and cultural, as well as the effect it has on other urban industries, such as the science and technology sector.”

However, it recognizes that marketing campaigns need to be redirected to focus on ‘visitors of interest’. They didn’t make it clear what that meant.

Meanwhile, the “Neighborhood Meeting for the Growth of Tourism (ABDT),” the group that managed to gather more than 140 organizations to protest thinks the fewer tourists the better and some water will not scare anyone away.

“It would be great if tourists stopped coming, but that won’t happen because of water guns and generally won’t happen on its own.” ABDT leaders said so.

Protesters also don’t really trust Barcelona City Hall’s plan to ban more than 10,101 tourist apartments by 2028, as the government will simultaneously add 20,000 new hotel beds in and around the city.

Following the ‘water pistol situation’, a government body quickly released a survey showing that the vast majority of Catalans (75%) supported the idea of ​​keeping the doors open to all tourists, without mentioning any form of limit.

However, a recent report shows that not only tourists, but also digital nomads from Britain and other countries are pushing locals out of traditional neighborhoods like Poblenou, where small shops have been transformed into co-working spaces, coffee shops and bars. catering for foreigners at prices that locals cannot afford.

We will see how the city responds when an additional 2.5 million tourists visit Barcelona from August to October to attend the 2024 America’s Cup, a UPF survey shows.

So far, more than 65 organizations have filed a report real estate speculation in the streets surrounding the eventwhere locals are denied rental contracts.