Don't need no tourists

[fridi]

"It's like a battlefield here in summer" and "This isn't tourism, this is an invasion!" Those are just some of the reactions of angry people from Barcelona, Venice and Dubrovnik. The three cities have led a rebellion against mass tourism. For them, it means unending crowds, noise, garbage, and skyrocketing prices. With protest signs reading "Tourists go home", mass rallies, and even physical clashes, some of Europe's most popular tourist destinations started meeting the enthusiastic newcomers who are flocking from planes, buses and cruise ships. The politicians have promised that flourishing tourism would bring economic prosperity, granted, but all that is now of secondary importance to the harmonious life of the locals.

Tourism in South Europe has grown incredibly for the last couple of years, because tourists prefer that region to places like Tunisia, Egypt and Turkey due to safety concerns. But an increasing number of local people are complaining that the growing tourist pressure is making their life unbearable. Last month there was a protest in Venice against uncontrolled tourism, the slogan was "My future if Venice". The protesters called for ending the practice of turning every available building into a hotel. Various solutions were proposed, including the quota system.

In Barcelona, what started with street graffiti escalated into threats, and in some cases things even went to physical abuse. This has forced the Spanish prime minister Rajoy to intervene. He described these masked activists as "extremists who are opposed to common sense". Indeed, tourism constitutes 12% of the Spanish economy. Rajoy said he doesn't know if tourists should be welcomed like kings, but what shouldn't be happening is driving people off who have come here to spend their money voluntarily. This still didn't stop the wave of indignation, which has now included places like Palma de Mallorca and San Sebastian in the Basque province.

The fierce reactions have brought two consequences. They've caused serious concerns for one of the major economic factors in the region, and they've compelled the authorities to get active. Rome for example is considering limiting the number of visitors in some areas of the city: special patrols will be going through the historical center, and people who use the fountains as baths would be severely penalized. Venice has increased the number of the tourist police, and taken steps to limit the number of newly opened hotel rooms. They've also started an information campaign instructing tourists about proper conduct in 11 languages.

Dubrovnik, the pearl of the Croatian Adriatic, is also starting a plan to curb daily visits from cruise ships from 5 to 2. More than 5000 tourists have arrived from cruise ships in a single day in June, in addition to the thousands who are already in the hotels. UNESCO has warned that the city's status as a world heritage site is at risk. Dubrovnik has seen a 10% increase of tourist visits for the last year alone, much of this additional interest coming from the fact that it's where some of Game of Thrones was filmed (the King's Landing scenes).

Barcelona has joined this tendency too. They're trying to deal with the problem by introducing a new tourist fee. They'll also be hiring dozens of inspectors to check for illegal holiday rooms and apartments for rent. The purpose is to impose a license regime for people using online platforms like Airbnb to let their property. The people of Barcelona are complaining that the rentals boom undermines other holiday businesses on the market. Barcelona will now be requiring that a certain licensing procedure should be passed. Still, there are just 80 inspectors (10 last year), and their number should increase. So far, Airbnb has removed 1000 illegal apartments from its portfolio. The platform has been cooperating with the city of Barcelona for the last couple of months, removing offers that could affect the long-term vacancies in the city. But there are still about 5-6 thousand unlicensed tourist units around Barcelona.

The Spanish Balearic Islands are also taking measures. Last month, they introduced a law that would fine owners for advertising illegal holiday units - the fine is 40,000 euro. The locals will be able to report on such cases through a special website, and platforms like Airbnb could face fines up to 400,000 euro if they're caught offering illegal accommodation. The company has stated they're prepared to cooperate, but they warn that the new rules are confusing because they don't discriminate between families sharing their homes with guests, and professional tour operators conducting business.

It's true that certain European destinations are suffering from excessive tourism. Obviously a comprehensive strategy is needed to deal with uncontrolled tourist demand. In the meantime, the World Tourism Organization has defended the industry, and urged the local authorities to do more for maintaining growth in the sector in a sustainable way. The secretary general has said that if managed properly, tourism could be the "best ally" to environment preservation and the development of local communities. After all, isn't that what both sides of this conflict are expecting?

Comments

[0rder]

I live in a city (New York) that has long been a tourist attraction, where tourists are a common and constant nuisance. They pack our subways, push us out of midtown Manhattan, crowd major infrastructure like the Brooklyn and Williamsburg bridges, rent out illegal AirBNB apartments throughout our neighborhoods, and are in general just a bunch of clueless dolts who have no sense of the city's pace or cultural norms that make it work. So this all strikes me as a bit quaint.

Granted! That old cities like Venice, Barcelona, and Dubrovnik don't have the infrastructure that NYC has, and the surges of cruise ship traffic are kind of the worst kind of tourist rushes you can get. At least our tourists tend to stay in the city and spend more while they're here. (I think it was a NYTimes story I read a bit ago on this subject, which pointed out that the problem with the cruise ships wasn't just that they were offloading thousands of ill-behaved tourists all at once, but that as a rule the tourists were "low quality," meaning that they were just going for some quick mementos, not staying long enough to absorb or appreciate the cultures or communities they're visiting.) And I couldn't guess at how you might build that infrastructure in places like Venice. I'm not sure you'd want to.

Anyway, what could effectively limit this? Capping the number of cruise ships that can dock nearby seems like a solution for that particular problem. But cracking down on illegal apartments seems difficult and, perhaps, not effective. Certainly, in NYC, making AirBNB renting illegal - an policy pushed by the hotel lobby, and ostensibly in service of keeping sky-high rents lower - has had only limited success, as AirBNB rentals are as common a nuisance in apartment living these days as noisy neighbors, cockroaches, and bad landlords (my next door unit is one, for instance).

[merig00]

I think most of my friends who have apartments in the city use AirBnB or some other way to find renters when they are out of the city on vacation themselves. Great way to recoup vacation costs.

[telemann]

Friend has an AirBnb in his Park Slope apartment; and he makes 3 times more than than when he had a room mate.

[0rder]

The one I live next door to has no permanent tenant. It really is just rented out for people visiting, typically on weekends. They haven't been too bothersome, and I actually prefer the fact that it's rented out only intermittently, because their terrace has an unobstructed view into my own apartment.

[asthfghl]

First World Problems(tm).

Let'em come here instead.

[merig00]

I know right... I think for Barcelona tourism is 12% of their economy. Good luck with that.