Spain has long been a popular destination for Brits to escape the gloomy and moody summer weather. Last year alone, almost 18 million people made trips to this popular Mediterranean country.
But this alluring dream of a week in the sun, sangria and beaches has made Spain a “victim of its own success”, with the number of tourists visiting the country expected to rise to 95 million by the end of 2024.
In just the first five months of this year, before the summer even began, tourist numbers increased by about 11% to 33.2 million, and by the end of September, a further 44 million had visited the country. But this huge increase in popularity has not been felt to the same extent. Some destinations, such as the Balearic Islands, receive 18 million tourists per year, which is 18 times the local population.
The massive influx of holidaymakers in the years since the pandemic has been dubbed “revenge tourism” by The New York Times, leaving some parts of Spain, such as Barcelona and popular islands,
struggling with a huge increase in visitors throughout the year. Local residents are suffering from the tourism boom. Property prices continue to rise due to the rise in Airbnb rentals, putting increasing strain on public services.
This has led to massive protests in Barcelona and the Canary Islands, some of which ran with the slogan “Tourists go home”. Despite the protests, Spain is facing one of the busiest years in its history, with 95 million holidaymakers expected to visit, double the country’s population of 47 million.
These protests have been loud and attracted a lot of attention, but the tourism problem is not an easy one to solve, even with the overwhelming population of the Balearic Islands. Around eight in 10 jobs in the islands, including Mallorca, are in tourism, which at the same time is pushing these people out of the local housing market.
European publication EuroWeekly News cited these figures, writing that the country is a “victim of its own success” and that Spain sees the economic recovery as “a burden that it must bear”. They echoed the demands of many Spanish protesters, who called for further measures to ensure sustainability, such as a tourist tax as has been tried in Venice and Amsterdam.
But so far there is little evidence that these measures have reduced visitor numbers to these crowded places. One of them is Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia, which is imposing a €3 tax on tourist accommodation from 2022.
Revenue from the tax is expected to reach £95m in 2023 and bring in around £115m this year, but Barcelona’s tourism politicians say they fear too many tourists could “ruin” the city.
Deputy Mayor Jordi Valls told The New York Times: “Tourism in Barcelona is a success but we need to have a strategy that reflects the reality that it could be our downfall.”
“We have to understand that the demand is unstoppable. The only thing we can do is control the supply.”