San Sebastián has announced its intention to restrict planning permission for new hotels and tourist accommodation in the city. The move comes amid a wave of tourist control measures across Spanish destinations from the Canary Islands to the Balearic Islands and from Seville to Barcelona.
Ancient port city
Like many parts of Spain, tourism is San Sebastián’s main industry. Located in Spain’s Basque Autonomous Community and snuggled into the nook of the Bay of Biscay about 20 km (12 miles) from the Spanish/French border, the ancient port city has been attracting tourists “with pride and pleasure”, according to its website, since the 19 th century.
Also going by the Basque name Donostia, the city can welcome 9,91 tourists for every 100 residents at the height of the season.
Anti-tourist feeling
Now local news outlet La Nacion is focusing on municipal discussions about how to manage visitor numbers in the wake of a preliminary General Urban Planning report, which highlights the problems engendered by unmanaged tourism and failing to make the “people who live here the cornerstone.”
Instead of raising the quality of local food and culture and benefitting the economy, tourism has caused the local offer to decline, the Urban Planning report says. The problem is so bad that anti-tourist graffiti telling tourists they are not welcome has begun appearing on walls around the city.
The proposed rules banning the development of new tourist hotels and apartments are part of a plan to prevent the negativity escalating any further and to enhance how life in the city feels for residents.
“Saturated”
Mayor Eneko Goia flagged the issue earlier this year, saying the city had “sufficient” tourist accommodation and “it is time to limit the opening of new businesses.” His intention is to declare parts of the city “saturated” to trigger a move towards a move sustainable approach in the area.
What this is not, however, is a ban on tourism, the authorities are keen to point out. Instead, the policy line laid out since 2017 is that “An authentic city, with quality of life for its inhabitants, will also be attractive for visitors.”
“Even higher occupancy”
Meanwhile, local tourist businesses do not seem overly concerned about the impact of new build restrictions – with one emphasising that existing businesses can only benefit from a ban on competitors entering the market.
“For existing hotels who already have their clientele, this move means new potential competitors won’t be able to operate, and therefore all the incoming tourists will need to stay in these existing hotels,” said Iñigo Etxebeste, the Manager of San Sebastián Apartments, reported in the British press.
I foresee hotels will enjoy even higher occupancy rates, and with even higher prices per night, due the increased demand and unchanged offer.
Iñigo Etxebeste, the Manager of San Sebastián Apartments
Etxebeste goes as far as to describe perhaps unintended consequences of the proposals which could ironically cause worse crowding.
A more detailed roadmap for the new approach is expected to be submitted in 2024.
