Locals have argued that mass tourism has caused prices to surge and has forced many out of the city
Drunken British holidaymakers have transformed the Spanish city of Alicante into a ‘tourist theme park’ where locals have been forced out by rising housing prices, protesters claimed during a demonstration against over tourism yesterday.
Protesters held banners reading ‘refugees welcome, tourists go home’ and ‘No Airbnb’, as they took to the streets of the southeastern city.
The proliferation of tourist flats has forced out local people who are no longer able to afford to live there because of the higher cost of rentals, demonstrators claimed.
About 1,000 protesters joined the demonstration organized by group Alicante ¿a donde vás? (Alicante Where Are You Going?).
Last year, 4.8 million tourists travelled to the Alicante region, of which nearly 1.3m were British, the largest group by nationality, according to Spanish National Statistics Institute data. Of these, 2.3m spent their holidays in Benidorm.
Alicante council last week imposed a freeze on licenses for buildings which are dedicated entirely to tourist flats.
Salvador Cobo, a spokesman for Alicante Where Are You Going?, said: “The city has experienced a proliferation of tourist apartments and the corresponding rise in rental prices has led to the expulsion of many families and residents who can no longer maintain their homes in the city or (afford) any housing as apartments have been converted from residential to tourist use.
“This trend is turning Alicante into a theme park for drunken tourism and leaving the neighborhood’s residents without their spaces in the city.”
Mr Cobo, an editor and translator, added: “We are not concerned with whether it is British, German or Spanish drunken tourism, but with the effect it is having on the city. We need to put a limit on it.
“When holidaymakers come to party in a tourist flat which is next to a family residence, it can cause disturbance.”
Protesters pointed to the example of the Libreria 80 Mundos, a bookshop which has existed in Alicante for the past 40 years, which is about to close after the building in which it stands was sold and is to be converted to tourist use.
Jordi Arnes Fernandez, another organizer of the demonstration, said: “I must stress we are not against tourism, only against mass tourism which is changing the character of the city and pushing up the price of flats for local people.”
He said the average monthly price of a two-bedroom flat in Alicante was now between 700-900 euros.
The demonstration in Alicante was just the latest in a series of protests across Spain this year against what activists call the ‘touristication’ of their cities.
Europe’s first coordinated protest over tourism was staged in June, with thousands attending protests in cities across Spain, Italy, and Portugal.
Spain’s government has ordered Airbnb to close nearly 66,000 tourist flats, claiming they are contravening regulations.
Airbnb disputes this claim and says it will keep the flats open while it appeals the order.
Jaime Rodriguez de Santiago, head of Airbnb for Iberia, said in June that restrictions on tourist flats in Barcelona scapegoated short lets, which he said could help redistribute visitor flows to less crowded parts of the city.
Barcelona’s mayor Jaume Collboni has promised to close the city’s 10,000 tourist flats by 2028.
