Travelers to Europe will mark the calendar (and bring a raincoat). On June 15, a group of Southern European activists plan to protest tourism. The exact form of these demonstrations has not been determined, but it is a rather safe bet for water guns to be involved.
A workshop held in Barcelona last weekend brought together around 120 activists from Venice. Lisbon; Palermo, Italy. And dozens of other cities, the leaders of Southern European networks for tourism, sought a day of coordinated action to raise awareness about what is called “the urgent need to limit tourism growth.” Tactics discussed include marching, picketing at the airport, obstructing tourists' entry to historic sites, and blocked tour buses.
Driven by rising rents, housing shortages, pollution and overcrowded public transport, Cole shows the continuation and perhaps escalation of demonstrations that broke out across Europe in 2024.
In July last year, a small number of participants pulled out water guns and began squirting tourists at a protest along Barcelona's famous Avenue of Las Ramblas. This tactic has attracted global media attention. So this time activists adopted toys as an effective symbol of resistance.
In Barcelona, ​​the city is taking steps to reduce the impact of excessive tourism, including local governments thwarting new hotel construction after 2028 and banning Airbnbs (the city received 15.5 million tourists in 2024), and tourism officials disappointed the news of the June 15 protest.
“It's a shame that Barcelona chose to announce its proposal in Barcelona, ​​the city that does the most for sustainable urban tourism,” said Mateu Hernandez, Director of Tourism, Barcelona.
With international travel expected to increase this year, it appears that other protests will likely surge in the summer of 2025. Already, tourism demonstrations are scheduled for May 18th in the Canary Islands, with organizers suggesting that it involves taking over what is called “iconic” tourism sites, beyond the march that brought 60,000 on the streets last year.
Participants at the Barcelona workshop concluded their gathering with their own iconic protests. On Sunday morning, activists met outside the Sagrada Familia Church (the city's most popular tourist attraction), surrounded a tour bus filled with passengers, hanging banners to announce a June 15th windshield demonstration, and gushing with water guns.
“We don't want to hurt anyone,” said Elena Boski, an English teacher and activist from Genoa, Italy. “We just want them to pay attention to the impact their presence has on these places and the people who live within them.”
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