Spain’s 15,000-strong anti-tourism protests Brits ‘plague’

A huge protest of 15,000 people took place in a tourist hotspot in Spain, complaining that they were “foreigners in our own city”. Shopkeepers carried signs with messages such as “One less tourist is one less local resident” and “Locks in our neighborhoods” in pencil, referring to the coded key holders outside tourist apartment blocks.

British tourists have been branded a ‘plague’ in Spain and people in Malaga say their city smells of beer at 11am. One protest organizer said: “We will not allow ourselves to be expelled from our own city. We stay put. We will not allow Malaga to become a theme park emptied of locals. We will not allow stores to be replaced with franchises, sidewalks with patios and rents with eviction letters.”

Anger has grown in Spain and its islands, with local residents saying they are not living in their own areas, as they are becoming overcrowded and polluted. The demonstration was organized by the Sindicato de Inquilinas e Inquilinos de Malaga – the Tenants’ Union of Malaga – supported by almost 50 other organisations, including Greenpeace and Oxfam, marching under the slogan: “Malaga para vivir, no para sobrevivir” – which translates to “Malaga lives in, not survives in.”

Shortly after the protest began in central Plaza de la Merced, a right-wing group attempted to hijack the protest, chanting: “Council housing for citizens.” However, this was met with calls of “fascists in our neighborhoods” and they were soon disbanded.

The crowds marched slowly through downtown Malaga, ending in Constitution Square with the reading of a manifesto in which protest organizers said: “We will not allow ourselves to be expelled from our own city. We stay put.

“We will not allow Malaga to become a theme park emptied of locals. We will not allow stores to be replaced with franchises, sidewalks with patios and rents with eviction letters.”

Earlier this year, stickers were plastered in front of tourist apartment blocks in the city, with messages including: “F*** off from here”. Others alluded to the same problems expressed by other Spanish tourist spots, including Tenerife, regarding the lack of affordable accommodation as a result of mass tourism: “This was my house.”

Hundreds of campaigners against mass tourism have taken over Mallorca’s picture-postcard bay of Calo des Moro, made famous around the world by influencers. Islanders made good on their promise to “reclaim” the stunning bay from foreign tourists, covering every inch of space on the tiny 98-foot stretch of sand with beach towels shortly after 8am on June 16.