“Antiturismo protesters in Barcelona sprayed with water guns to visitors” (Washington Post). “‘Go home’: the neighbors unleashed against tourists” (The Sun). “Protests against tourism throughout Spain continue despite economic growth” (BBC News). This type of news plagued the international media last summer in the middle of the wave of protests against mass tourism for its negative impact on housing and the environment. The hostility against the high influx of tourists rooted in the most visited destinationswith mobilizations in Barcelona, Mallorca, Ibiza, Menorca, Gran Canaria, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, La Palma, Málaga, Alicante and a long etcetera. Now it can be said that protesters have achieved, in part, their purpose. Not only have the regulations of tourist floors proliferate, ecotas and sanctions but a certain reluctance to visit these destinations has been extended. According to the “Traveltech”, of Belgian origin and based in London, Lighthouse The tourist demand in cities such as Barcelona, Ibiza or Palma de Mallorca has dropped 3.8% on average during this summer’s high season, Despite those of the records of arrivals of international tourists and expense.
“While the reaction against mass tourism has been observed in several communities of the world -Venice, Lisbon or Amsterdam, among others -, Spain is the one that has received the most media attention,” says Lighthouse. This is due, in large part, that it is one of the great world tourist powers, with 93.8 million foreign visitors in 2024, a record, and a historical income of 126,282 million. Tourism is living another golden age in Spain and, according to the forecasts of the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, the barrier of the 100 million international tourists could be exceeded in 2025. These data have made the opposition to mass tourism root among the Spaniards and influence the behavior of consumers.
Analyzing Google Trends trends, it is seen that Searches for the terms “Barcelona protest” and “Protest Spain” shot during June and July 2024 and 2025, Barcelona being the most consultations. This concern has resulted in an interannual fall in demand indicators in those Spanish destinations with a significant anti-tourism feeling.
He Average drop in the daily demand indicators during July and August compared to the same period of 2024 is 6% in Barcelona, 4% in Granada, 2% in Ibiza, 3% in Malaga, 7% in Palma de Mallorca and 1% in Tenerife. That is, where protest movements were more loud and more covered by the press, such as Barcelona and Mallorca, they record the greatest demand falls with respect to 2024. These data are built from different indicators, such as occupation, non -available hotels and searches, but there seems to be a pattern that could be related to the change demanded by the premises. Lighthouse emphasizes that, although most of these destinations record increases in year -on -year demand in the periods of the season low in the second half of the year, it must be observed that The critical period of July and August is weak in all these locations. This behavior is selective and is not causing a general fall in tourist performance in Spain.
Do protests also affect hotels prices? When analyzing Barcelona and Mallorcawhere anti-tourism movements have had more impact, real prices in 2025 have dropped on average in Barcelona and have risen slightly in Mallorca. However, The prices announced for July and August have dropped in both. In Barcelona, the effective and announced prices have dropped 3% year -on -year throughout the year and the same happens in July and August. In Mallorca, prices have risen 4% during the year, but drop 2% in July and August. In the opinion of Lighthouse, “the general pattern of worse results in high season and better season in the most tourist destinations seems to indicate that the protests are having an impact.”
From ExcellentHowever, Óscar Perelli del Almo, Executive Vice President of the Tourist AssociationA, recognizes the concern of the tourism sector around tourism phobobia, but have not perceived that these outbreaks have affected the demand, that is at maximum. “The challenge is the management”points out. Perelli points out that in the last 10 years in Spain, housing capacity through tourist homes has been doubled. This “has allowed huge tourist influx growth” and this is a “model change” and “paradigm of how to do things.” “In Spain we were accustomed to the strategies of public administrations focusing on the more better. Now this cannot be so. We have to be aware that there are destinations at certain times of time and in certain specific spaces there are no more people. We have to start managing those influx limits so that things work, “says Excellent Executive Vice President.
The change passes, according to Perelli, for “establishing limits to accommodations where there is saturation”; “Manage marketing in another way, to try to attract the most interesting tourists, who are not the ones who spend the most, but the ones that respect the way of life of local societies”; and “invest in management infrastructure, for example, of traffic in the coastal areas” as systems that on roads let you know that all the parking lots of the coast are full. In addition, Óscar Perelli del Almo affects that most of the Increased human pressure in cities which has occurred since the pandemic is due to the Arrival of new residents (88%) and only 11% to the presence of more tourists. In more tourist regions, such as the Canary Islands, tourism represents 31% of that greater pressure, while the other 70% is due to the arrival of more foreign population. This greater influx, both for one reason and another, must be managed “so that the resident population and tourism live together and do not produce those outbreaks of rejection of tourism,” says Perelli.