On Sunday 15 June 2025, protestors in the Spanish city of Barcelona and on the Spanish island of Mallorca have sprayed tourists with water guns, outing their discontent with the tourism industry and how it is handled in the country. The Spanish protests were part of a larger planned anti-tourism wave of demonstrations across Europe.
The relationship between Spain and the many tourists visiting the popular destination is getting increasingly complicated. Over the last years, locals have taken to the streets in order to show their discontent with the matter, as life is getting ever more expensive for them.
Last Sunday, 15 June 2025, another series of protests took place in Spain, among others in Barcelona and on Mallorca. According to the Associated Press (AP), multiple tourists have been sprayed by protesters with a water gun during the demonstrations. According to Spaniard Andreu Martínez, the innocent move was meant as a way to annoy tourists a little bit.
Humo y disparos con PISTOLAS de AGUA a la tienda @LouisVuitton de passeig de Gràcia #Barcelona. Sigue la protesta contra la masificación turística pic.twitter.com/w2sFX4vXa7
— Alfonso Congostrina (@alfcongostrina) June 15, 2025
“Barcelona has been handed to the tourists. This is a fight to give Barcelona back to its residents. Our lives, as lifelong residents of Barcelona, are coming to an end. We are being pushed out systematically”, Martínez told AP, while stating that his rent has recently increased with 30% and that more and more local shops are being replaced with popular tourist alternatives such as bubble tea stores.
During the protests, locals could be seen waving signs that read ‘One more tourist, one less resident’, ‘Tourism is killing Barcelona’, and ‘As you come, I have to go’. Others were indeed carrying water guns, a trend that started last year and has since become a symbol of Spain’s battle against overtourism. Protestors hope the harmless guns will send a message to the Spanish political leaders and say they are not against individual tourists, but against the way in which tourism is managed in Spain’s most popular destinations.
🇪🇸 BARCELONA LOCALS FIGHT TOURISM…WITH WATER GUNS
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) April 29, 2025
Fed up with tourists flooding their streets, Barcelona activists pulled out water pistols and blasted a tour bus outside the Sagrada Familia, yelling “Tourists go home!”
They’re demanding “de-touristification” of the city,… https://t.co/4rg61e5d90 pic.twitter.com/K78hjXPy4M
What with tourism over the coming years?
As the wave of anti-tourism marches goes on, the Spanish government is gradually taking action on the matter. In May 2025, Airbnb was ordered to remove some 66,000 vacation rentals for violating local rules according to AP. Moreover, Barcelona officials have planned to ban short-term tourist apartment rentals by 2028.
However, it is unclear whether or not such actions will have a real impact on the lives of locals, as the number of short-term rentals in Barcelona has been stagnant at around 10,000 since 2014, leaving little explanation for the price increases since.
“I think a lot of our politicians have found an easy scapegoat to blame for the inefficiencies of their policies in terms of housing and tourism over the last 10, 15, 20 years,” Jaime Rodríguez de Santiago, Airbnb’s general director for Spain and Portugal, told AP.
WTTC Statement on Anti-Tourism Protestshttps://t.co/gQ1u6ITIHL pic.twitter.com/aTdTmext7y
— WTTC (@WTTC) June 16, 2025
Since images of Sunday’s protests went viral, the World Travel & Tourism Council has also released a statement regarding tourism and its global impact.
“Travel & Tourism brings significant economic benefits, not just for large travel corporations, but for local businesses and small companies that supply them. The sector creates employment and revenue from international and domestic visitors. It should not be blamed for wider issues like housing shortages, which often have complex, deep-rooted causes beyond the sector’s influence. Travel & Tourism generates substantial tax revenues. Governments must engage with communities to ensure these funds are reinvested to meet local needs like improved infrastructure. WTTC supports responsible Travel & Tourism that benefits people and works with governments to help achieve it”, the statement reads.
With the tourism sector only expected to grow over the coming years, a new balance needs to be found between locals’ needs and tourists’ expectations.
