Anti-Tourism protest sparks in Malaga over threat to city’s identity
Hundreds of people have descended on Málaga in an anti-tourism protest as tourists were branded a “plague” by locals in the southern Spain city.
Luis Jiménez Navarrete, a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party youth group in Málaga, took to X to highlight that a once traditional café in the city centre “is now called John Scotts” and reeks of “pints of beer.”
The post continued: “They have destroyed our identity, they have prostituted everything they could to our city.
“This has to change.”
Protests have sparked across Spain’s tourist hotspots, including the popular islands of Menorca, Mallorca and Ibiza, with locals claiming that holiday rentals are pricing them out of the housing market and that the “massification of tourism” has led to problems with water management.
Earlier this month, approximately 10,000 people joined a protest in Mallorca while a few hundred marched in Menorca, according to a Spanish National Police spokesperson with posters reading ‘SOS Residents’ and ‘Enough Mass Tourism’.
Last month, UK holidaymakers were urged to stay away from the Balearic Islands after tourism reached “its limit”, according to Marga Prohens, the president of the Balearic Islands regional government.
Despite the protest in Malaga, justice, a waiter working in central Málaga who preferred not to share his full name, described the protest as “nonsense.”
He told i: “I don’t see any problems with tourists. Everyone is calm and friendly, to my knowledge.
“In my work as a waiter, the tourists always leave tips.
“They help our business,” Justice added.
“I won’t be at the protest. This protest is nonsense.”
Protesters in southern Spain have opposed mass tourism and tourist accommodation, which they claim has led to a drop in housing stock and a rise in rental
On Wednesday, hundreds gathered in Seville’s Plaza de Salvador to call on the City Council to address the issues stemming from mass tourism.
The Sevilla Se Muere (Seville is Dying) group, which took part in Wednesday’s anti-tourism demonstration, posted on X to thank the “awakened Sevillania” that attended the event.
The post read: “Thank you very much to all the people who joined us at the demonstration that took place yesterday afternoon.
“Our demands were heard in the Plaza del Salvador in Seville with the slogan “Let’s recover Seville.”
“The awakened Sevillania takes action.”
This is a breaking news story and is being updated.
