BARCELONA, Spain — Tourists lounging in cafes and strolling through historic streets in Barcelona and Mallorca were met with an unusual reception on Sunday: blasts from brightly colored water guns fired by angry locals demanding an end to what they say is the unchecked ravaging of their communities by mass tourism.
The squirt-gun salvos were the most attention-grabbing part of coordinated anti-tourism demonstrations staged across Spain — including Granada, San Sebastián, and Ibiza — as well as in Venice and Lisbon. Protesters say soaring short-term rentals, overtourism, and the prioritization of visitor comfort over local needs are pushing residents out of their neighborhoods and turning their cities into theme parks.
“This is a fight to give Barcelona back to its residents,” said Andreu Martínez, 42, an administrative worker who joined hundreds in Barcelona’s protest, squirting café-goers along the way. “Barcelona has been handed to the tourists.”
Barcelona, a city of 1.7 million, drew a staggering 15.5 million visitors last year. Locals like Martínez say they’ve felt the squeeze: rents in some neighborhoods have risen more than 30%, traditional businesses are being replaced by souvenir shops and bubble tea cafes, and a growing number of homes are being converted to tourist accommodations, leaving residents priced out and alienated.
“Our lives as lifelong residents of Barcelona are coming to an end,” Martínez said. “We are being pushed out systematically.”
In Palma, the capital of Mallorca, about 5,000 people marched through the streets with placards reading “Everywhere you look, all you see are tourists.” Many also carried water guns. The coastal city, popular with British and German vacationers, has seen housing prices soar as locals compete with global visitors for limited rental supply.
While many tourists laughed off the squirt attacks — with some even welcoming the cooling relief in the summer heat — others were startled by the intensity of sentiment behind the protests.
American tourists Wanda and Bill Dorozenski were walking along Barcelona’s luxury shopping boulevard when they were sprayed. “That’s lovely, thank you sweetheart,” Wanda quipped. “These people are feeling something very personal, and it’s perhaps destroying some areas of the city.”
Protesters made their message clear through banners and signs reading “One more tourist, one less resident,” and slapped stickers reading “Tourist Go Home” and “Citizen Self-Defense” on hotel doors. In front of one large hostel, tensions spiked as demonstrators emptied their water guns at employees and lit firecrackers. One hostel worker retaliated by spitting at the crowd before slamming the doors shut.
Spain’s anti-tourism protests are part of a larger reckoning across Europe as cities grapple with the dual challenge of sustaining tourism — which accounts for roughly 12% of Spain’s GDP — while preserving livability for residents. Spain recorded a record-breaking 94 million international visitors in 2024, inflaming tensions in cities already stretched thin.
Barcelona has become the epicenter of resistance. Last year, city authorities made headlines by announcing that all 10,000 short-term rental licenses would be phased out by 2028, a move seen as one of Europe’s boldest stands against Airbnb and similar platforms. Signs reading “Your Airbnb was my home” were widely displayed during Sunday’s protest.
Spain’s national government has also taken action. In May, it ordered Airbnb to delist nearly 66,000 illegal holiday rentals that violated local zoning or housing regulations. Consumer Rights Minister Pablo Bustinduy said tourism “cannot jeopardize the constitutional rights of the Spanish people,” including access to housing.
Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo echoed the sentiment, stating that the government was focused on addressing “the unwanted side effects of mass tourism.”
The short-term rental industry has pushed back, accusing officials of scapegoating platforms like Airbnb for deeper housing policy failures. Jaime Rodríguez de Santiago, Airbnb’s general director for Spain and Portugal, recently told The Associated Press that political leaders were dodging responsibility for years of inaction.
But that argument holds little sway for Barcelona residents like Txema Escorsa, a schoolteacher who said he’s sworn off Airbnb altogether — even when traveling abroad.
“In the end, you realize that this is taking away housing from people,” Escorsa said.
As climate change, digital nomadism, and the global mobility of wealth continue to reshape the world’s tourism economies, Spain’s squirt-gun protests signal that the limits of local patience have been reached — and that the backlash may only grow louder.
