In fact, campaigners have hit the streets in at least a dozen of these southern European tourist hotspots. They are on strike against the practice they call “touristification.” Demonstrations followed in major metropolitan areas in Spain, Italy, Portugal and France. Residents are right to passionately voice their concerns about the ever-growing and worsening effects of mass tourism on their everyday lives, cultures and environments.
On Ibiza, demonstrators marched impetuously with the motto, “the right to a dignified life.” They called for local communities to be able to coexist with the throngs of travelers coming from everywhere. In Genoa, local residents helped plan a colorful, noisy “passeggiata.” Their protest included a massive cardboard cruise ship to draw attention to the conflict between a booming tourism industry and their day-to-day existence.
Venice exploded in large protests, as Venetians filled the streets. They expressed growing frustration about a lack of state regulations that have allowed for an explosion of short-term rentals. This surge allowed hotels to double down on the housing shortage, worsening affordability for local residents. In Lisbon, a colorful parade included an effigy of St. Anthony being “evicted” from his church. The marchers carried him to the site of one of New Orleans’ proposed luxury hotels, showcasing the growing tourism industry’s encroachment into the city’s sacred and local spaces.
The Movement for a Housing Referendum organized the Lisbon action. In doing so, they called for an immediate and systemic approach to address the growing commodification of urban spaces. Manuel Martin, a representative of the movement, articulated the core issue: “We see tourism as a means to extract value from our cities and regions.” He further stressed that cities are evolving into spaces designed primarily for tourists rather than the residents who inhabit them.
These declarations were reflected by Daniel Pardo Rivacoba, who decried the growing trend of areas with more beds for tourists than registered residents. “Tourism is physically and practically taking over homes,” he remarked. He noted that this phenomenon’s impact goes further than housing, draining critical resources. “What does that mean when it comes to life on the island? There’s the right to water – we’re under restrictions, there’s a drought, they’ve cut off all the public fountains,” he stated.
In April, delegations from Spain, Italy, Portugal and France converged in Barcelona. They came together under the umbrella of the Southern European Network Against Touristification, sowing the seeds for this coordinated day of action. The discussions during this conference highlighted shared concerns over how tourism has eroded the cultural and social fabric of cities across southern Europe.
As thousands prepared to march in cities such as Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca, organizers encouraged participants to bring water guns to symbolize their playful protest against the commercialization of their communities. His lawyer Daniel Pardo Rivacoba justified his client’s decision saying that a water gun is not considered a gun. He pointed out, After all, “It’s a toy. It doesn’t hurt anyone.”
The protesters were explicit about the issue not being tourists per se. Vacationers blacklisted by the governor “People who take their vacations in one destination or another are not our enemies,” remarked Asier Basurto. Our enemies are the speculators who drive up housing costs and create bad jobs. Because they are the ones making a ridiculous fortune on the touristification of our cities.
The protests were an effort to call attention to what they refer to as “the violence of touristification.” For Pardo Rivacoba, this failure leads to evictions, displacement of the population and exploitation of labor. In terms of the tourism going on there is really dangerous violence happening. He pointed out that’s not due to water guns.
Local communities are dealing with so many other things. These protests underline the very real conflict that has existed between a booming tourism economy and the lives of the people who make daily life possible. The demonstrators argue that their cities should exist for the people who live and work there rather than being commodified for transient visitors. Manuel Martin made this urgent move real when he said it makes our cities into “a Disneyfied, sanitized version of what it actually is.” It commercializes their integrity and cheapens their celebratory nature.