The global tourism industry, once seen as a boon for local economies and a way for people to explore the world, is increasingly coming under fire for its adverse effects on communities and the environment. From Utah to the Greek island of Crete, local populations are rising up against what they see as an industry that overburdens infrastructure, commodifies culture, and wreaks havoc on ecosystems.
In July, this discontent was on full display in Barcelona, where a crowd of approximately 3,000 anti-tourism protesters took to the streets of the city’s upscale downtown area. With what some described as "delighted malice," the protesters cordoned off hotels and restaurants with hazard tape, symbolically marking them as crime scenes. Armed with water guns, they sprayed unsuspecting tourists sitting in outdoor cafes, causing confusion and discomfort. Footage from the event showed startled couples and young men hastily retreating, clearly taken aback by the protest.
Chanting “tourists go home,” the protesters held signs proclaiming “Barcelona is not for sale.” They voiced frustration with what they termed "mass touristification" and accused local businesses—restaurants, hotels, and Airbnb hosts—of profiting from a relentless influx of visitors while the average Catalonian struggles with rising living costs. One protester captured the sentiment, telling a reporter, “The city has turned completely for tourists. What we want is a city for citizens.”
The situation in Barcelona mirrors similar sentiments across Europe. In Spain alone, the resident population of 47 million is dwarfed by the 85 million annual visitors. This surge in tourism, especially in hyper-visited countries like Greece, Italy, and France, has led locals to push back against what they perceive as an invasion that stretches resources to the breaking point and disrupts their daily lives.
Chris Christou, host of The End of Tourism podcast, suggests these protests are the culmination of years of exploitation. “In the last decade, especially in southern Europe, we’ve seen local movements sprout and mobilize—typically from the grassroots Left—against the relentless conversion of home into a veritable theme park for ignorant foreigners,” Christou explained.
According to data from Statista, the number of international tourists surged from just 25 million in 1950 to 1.4 billion in 2018, before the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily slowed global travel. Projections suggest that by 2030, nearly 2 billion tourists will be visiting destinations worldwide. This exponential growth is raising questions about the sustainability of mass tourism and its long-term impacts on local environments and cultures.
Christou is particularly critical of the tourism industry’s harmful effects, which he argues go far beyond overcrowding. These include environmental degradation, cultural appropriation, economic inequality, and gentrification fueled by platforms like Airbnb. He also points to what he terms "petrification," where the natural evolution and flow of local cultures come to a standstill, as entire neighborhoods and historic areas are frozen in time to cater to tourists. Beyond that, the industry's contribution to climate change is significant, accounting for at least 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions.
In the summer of 2023, concerns about “overtourism” became a global talking point, making headlines in major outlets like The New York Times, The Guardian, and Reuters. Images of overcrowded tourist hotspots, reminiscent of a dystopian landscape painted by Hieronymus Bosch, depicted people packed so tightly together that individual faces and forms were indistinguishable. These scenes have become emblematic of the unchecked growth of the global middle class and its newfound ability to travel, putting even more strain on popular destinations.
Barcelona, in particular, has become a cautionary tale of the dangers of over-reliance on tourism. With 26 million visitors flooding the city in 2023 and generating $14 billion in revenue, the local government and tourism industry have a vested interest in maintaining this status quo. However, the cost is high for the city’s residents, prompting the formation of groups like the Neighborhood Assembly for Tourism Degrowth. This grassroots organization seeks to roll back the tide of tourism and restore balance to the city's economy by reducing its dependence on visitors.
Daniel Pardo, a 48-year-old Barcelonan and cofounder of the movement, explained that touristification is a transformation imposed on a community by governments working hand-in-hand with commercial interests. For Pardo, the solution is clear: the city must pursue a strategy of degrowth, regulating the tourism industry to the point where it no longer dominates the local economy. He argues for alternative activities that prioritize the well-being of residents over catering to tourists. Most importantly, Pardo emphasizes the need to address the city’s “pathological dependence” on tourism, which makes it vulnerable to crises like the COVID-19 pandemic, terrorist attacks, or even natural disasters.
“The right to fly does not exist. The right to tourism does not exist,” Pardo said during an episode of The End of Tourism. “You cannot extend a model of tourism everybody thinks about to all the population. It’s impossible.” He added that this mindset ignores the planet's finite resources and the environmental toll of mass travel—something many people prefer not to think about.
To understand the full scope of the problem, it helps to look at the IPAT formula, used in ecological sciences to measure the impact of human activities on the environment. According to the formula, impact equals population times affluence times technology. In the context of tourism, this means that the growing affluence of millions of people, combined with the availability of new travel technologies—such as easy online bookings, smartphones, and social media—has created a perfect storm. Travelers now have unprecedented access to every corner of the globe, often with little regard for the consequences.
The people of Barcelona, and others across Europe, are standing up for their right to live in a city that prioritizes its residents over visitors. While some may see the protests as radical, they are a warning of the limits to growth. If the tourism industry and its consumers do not adjust their expectations, future generations may find that the concept of leisure travel, as we know it today, is no longer sustainable.
Reducing tourism will be a complex challenge, especially as more people around the world gain the means to travel. But as Pardo and others argue, it’s a necessary step to safeguard communities, protect ecosystems, and meet global climate targets. Without significant changes, the future of travel could be marked by environmental and social collapse—a price far too high for any vacation.