As tourism pressures escalate, locals in Europe are increasingly vying for beach access during the summer months.
Local tourism in Spain has plummeted by about 800,000 visitors, while foreign tourist numbers rose by 1.94 million, as reported by the Associated Press (AP).
Wendy Davila, a local, reminisced about her childhood vacations in Alicante, expressing a sense of loss. “Now, you can’t really continue enjoying it like before. It’s something I love, but it feels like it’s everywhere now,” she reflected.
She also mentioned, “Prices have skyrocketed. The entire Spanish coast is just so pricey.”
Protests took place last month in both Barcelona and Mallorca, where residents voiced their frustrations over rising rents and the influx of tourists, even resorting to playful tactics involving water guns.
Jose Maria Basanez, president of the price monitoring group Tecnitasa, noted that many Spanish families find it tougher to afford tourist rentals along the coastline. “It’s becoming increasingly difficult for locals to keep up with the rental prices,” he stated.
Most beachfront rentals for this summer were booked by the end of the first quarter, representing a 20.3% increase from the previous year, according to Tecnitasa.
In 2024, Spain welcomed around 90 million international tourists, according to the country’s tourism minister.
Juan Pedro Aznar, a professor at Esade Business School in Madrid, highlighted an interesting trend: locals feel a sense of being overwhelmed by the number of foreign visitors. “When the cruise ships dock in Cadiz, the population can suddenly double,” he observed.
According to the AP, Spaniards have taken about 400,000 fewer trips to major cities, while foreign visits to Spanish urban areas surged by nearly 3 million last year.
In response to these issues, local officials in Barcelona are contemplating a ban on short-term apartment rentals by 2028. The number of such rentals in the city has stagnated around 10,000 since 2014, as indicated by city hall data.
