50 Million Foreign Tourists Visit Spain
Residents Protest Against Overtourism
Amid growing complaints about overtourism across Europe, the number of foreign tourists visiting Spain has surpassed 50 million this year.
On the 2nd (local time), the Spanish National Statistics Institute announced that the number of visitors to Spain from January to July this year reached approximately 53.4 million, a 12% increase compared to the same period last year. In July alone, during the holiday season, 10.9 million foreign tourists visited Spain, which is 7.3% more than in July last year.
Foreign tourists spent about 71.1 billion euros (approximately 105 trillion won) in Spain over the seven months, an increase of about 19% compared to the same period last year. In July alone, expenditures exceeded 15.5 billion euros (about 23 trillion won), marking a record high for July with a 12% increase year-on-year.
The largest group of visitors to Spain were from the United Kingdom, with a total of 10.5 million (an 8.6% increase) over the past seven months. They were followed by the French with 7 million (a 10.6% increase) and the Germans with 6.8 million (a 10.1% increase).
By region, Catalonia, home to Barcelona, attracted 11.5 million visitors. Next were the Balearic Islands, including Mallorca (8.7 million), the Canary Islands (just under 8.7 million), and Valencia (just under 6.8 million), in order of popularity.
The tourism industry accounts for an average of 14% of Spain's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). However, as the number of tourists increases, issues such as housing shortages due to the rise of short-term accommodations, traffic congestion, and environmental pollution have worsened. Residents in popular resorts like Barcelona, Malaga, and the Canary Islands have staged protests against overtourism.
Pedestrian crossing protest by residents of the village of O Morazo, Spain. [Image source=X (formerly Twitter)]
At the end of last month, residents of O Morrazo, a coastal village in the Galicia region of Spain, held a unique protest. They lined up to repeatedly cross a two-lane pedestrian crossing on the road leading into the village. Cars trying to enter the village were stuck on the road, unable to move due to the continuous crossing by residents. This effectively blocked tourist vehicles from entering the village in a 'legal' manner without illegally occupying the road.
Resident Esperanza Veiga said, "We are fed up with outside vehicles parking anywhere without any penalties," adding, "The situation worsens every year, and now we have reached our limit."
Meanwhile, Spain is not the only country suffering from overtourism. The Swiss Alps and Tokyo in Japan are also considering imposing various taxes to limit tourists. Additionally, the Italian government is pushing to raise city tourism taxes by up to 5 euros (about 7,400 won) per night depending on the city and hotel rating, with a maximum increase up to 25 euros (about 37,000 won).
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