This year saw anti-tourism protests sweep Spain but despite the “tourists go home” messages, the country actually saw even more tourists visit.
On July 6, anti-tourism protestors took to the streets of Barcelona but tourists were generally not scared off by the messages.
Some tourists who were in the country at the time of the protest were confronted by the protestors or sprayed with water guns and it’s likely these people may not want to visit again any time soon.
Data from Spain’s National Statistics Institute shows most weren’t scared away. This summer, 10.9million tourists arrived to Spain in August – a 7% increase from the year before.
Some 2.4million international travellers visited the Balearic Islands, home to Majorca, in August, a 4% jump from the same period in 2023.
Another 2.3million foreigners went to Catalonia, where Barcelona is located, a 6% increase from 2023.
These top two destinations were among the locations where protesters staged their demonstrations.
Majorca’s tourism board completed a survey to understand more about tourism in the area. The data collected showed that 89% of American travellers said they were either unaware or unconcerned about the protests that occurred on Mallorca this year, according to the travel news website Skift.
Of those who knew about the demonstrations, nearly 70% said they had “no impact” on their travel intentions, Skift reported.
Authorities have made plans to reduce issues posed by tourism with the aim of creating a more sustainable tourism model for visitors and residents.
Managing visitors flows is a strategy that is fast gaining ground as a way to mitigate overtourism, from the use of sensors and mobile phone monitoring tools to provide real-time crowd data.
