MADRID — Spain’s tourism minister condemned the actions of a small group of protesters who sprayed visitors to Barcelona with water pistols last weekend, saying on Thursday they did not represent the country’s culture of hospitality. Activists protesting against the effects of mass tourism on the city marched through the city center on Saturday chanting slogans such as “tourists go home”. Some surrounded restaurants and a small group of fewer than a dozen squirted at people they identified as foreign tourists with water guns, Reuters video showed.
Jordi Hereu, who previously served as Barcelona’s mayor, told reporters that while the demonstrators’ actions were reprehensible, the incident was exaggerated by the international media. Anti-tourism activists have increasingly staged protests in Barcelona and other seaside towns like Palma de Mallorca or Malaga, saying visitors drive up housing costs and lead to residents being unable to afford to live in city centers. Hereu said the tourism sector needed to be regulated and diversified to make it more sustainable.
Redistributing the sector’s profits and improving the quality of jobs in tourism would help ease opponents’ concerns, he added. The protests were “crossing red lines”, said Jose Luis Zoreda, vice-president of tourism lobby Exceltur, which blames insufficient regulation of holiday rentals for tensions. According to Exceltur, tourists staying in Spanish holiday homes increased by 24% in the second qua.
