For years, governments and city authorities have been taking measures to control tourism, from regulating cruise ships to restricting short-term rentals, but now it seems locals are taking matters into their own hands.
All over Europe, fingers are pressing on spray paint nozzles, fake posters are being pasted on walls, banners are being unfurled in front of historic buildings.
We spoke to our experts in Barcelona, Amsterdam, Greece, Croatia and Venice to shed light on grassroots campaigns against overtourism and how things are going one step further in 2023.
Athens
Written by: Heidi Fuller-love
In early December, buildings used for short-term rentals in Athens were covered with posters bearing the official government logo. The message was clear. Due to bedbug infestation, vacate the apartments immediately or you will face a €500 fine.
Tourists were surprised: “Greece is a land of filoxenia – xenophobia – we never thought they could target overseas visitors in this way,” said Philippa Unwin, who stayed in one of the apartments in Athens’ Exarcheia district. The area has been home to numerous activist groups since the Athens Polytechnic uprising in 1973, when a massive student demonstration against the Greek Military Junta resulted in the deaths of 24 civilians.
Exarcheia was just one of the regions badly affected by Greece’s decade-long recession, which caused the economy to contract by almost a quarter.
“We are the lost generation; If we want to work, we have to leave the country. “If we stay, we will face poverty and even homelessness,” said a 25-year-old Athenian.
The scam has highlighted growing anger against Airbnbs as short-term rentals soar prices in Athens and some of Greece’s popular islands. This anger is also visible on walls in Exarcheia and surrounding neighborhoods covered in anti-Airbnb graffiti: “Dear Tourist, Enjoy your Airbnb. He signed a contract with a future homeless Athenian,” one of them reads. “Apartments for expats, not Airbnb,” says another.
In fact, in 2021, the activist X (formerly Twitter) account called “Exarcheia Tourism #airbnburn” even published a video of an attack on an Airbnb apartment.
“I don’t think people would be this angry if there were better laws to regulate Airbnbs,” one property owner, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation, told The Telegraph.
“Greeks are generally peaceful people and I don’t think even anarchists have anything against tourists, but Airbnb excludes locals who can’t afford to pay rent and little to nothing has been done to stop this.”
barcelona
By Sally Davies
With record numbers of tourists filling Barcelona in 2023, sky-rocketing rental prices, and ever-longer queues for public transport, no one could blame Barcelona residents for feeling a little frustrated.
The municipality acknowledged there was a problem and took several measures: increased the overnight tourist tax; placing a limit on the number of tour groups; Hotel construction in the center has been frozen and regulations have been tightened for those who want to rent their apartments on Airbnb. But where the struggle is most evident is at street level.
“Go to the tourist house!” Graffiti all over the Old City screams. Close to major tourist attractions, he strikes a more despairing note: “Your luxury travel – my daily misery.” The nature of the slogans varies from barrio to barrio. In Gràcia, long famous as the neighborhood of cheerful anarchists, you will find: “We spit in your beer. Cheers!” and “Tourists go home, pickpockets welcome.”
Other Barcelonans are aware of the economic need for tourism or see this attitude as hypocritical.
A sign that reads the answer: “The people who drew this went to New York, Berlin, London, Lisbon, Tangier, Istanbul…” says: “But they don’t want anyone to come to this neighborhood. Hypocrisy is the worst way to fight gentrification.”
Printed, official-looking posters promoting “balconying” (jumping from one balcony to another), practiced in holiday resorts mostly by young, drunk Brits and Germans, are also widely disapproved of, given the number of tragic accidents that have occurred over the years.
However, it’s hard to argue with the disgruntled Vallcarca residents who rotated signs for Gaudí’s Park Güell to send visitors in the wrong direction and give themselves some peace of mind, or Colmado Múrria, the enterprising owner of the picturesque gourmet grocery store outraged by Instagrammers. leaving without buying anything.
“Visit just by looking” the window says: “€5 per person”.
Croatia
By Jane Foster
Here in Split, while exploring the stone-paved streets within the Roman walls of Diocletian’s Palace, visitors may be surprised to see large red-and-white warnings resembling prohibitory road signs, warning that antisocial behavior will be punished.
Using (rather entertaining) images to make their message accessible to all nationalities and the illiterate, they warn that you will pay €300 for: urinating or defecating in public spaces; climbing monuments; jumping into fountains; or sleeping in parks, squares and other public areas. Vomiting in public will set you back 150 euros.
Split city council realized they needed to take action after an increase in noise in the summer of 2023. The culprits were mostly rowdy groups of Brits and Australians in their late teens and early 20s, hanging around the pubs. Locals (and well-behaved visitors) were becoming distraught by the late-night noise, garbage and stench in the Unesco-listed old town. The city also assigned a private security company, Pit Bull, to patrol the streets from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.
In reality, it is not so much the tourists who disturb the locals as the way tourism changes the way people live. Split’s old town is almost deserted in winter; residents are selling homes and moving to the suburbs, homes are being converted into holiday homes, public spaces are being eroded and beloved trees are being cut down.
Salon Galic in Split in August; Summer Album, an exhibition of Maja Roñman’s paintings, was staged; Sarcastic depictions of inflatable pink flamingos, plastic flip-flops and flashy cocktails highlight the modern-day “Instagramification” of summer. This resistance of artists and musicians against tourism by using irony and humor is nothing new. Years ago, Franci Blašković (lead singer of the Istrian band Gori Ussi Winnetou) founded the Jocular Union Against Tourism. And at Bol on Bra&ccaron multimedia artist Ivica Jakšić Čokrić Puko organized shows and made short films about Bol’s magnificent Zlatni rat beach, showing how this beach is exploited by mass tourism.
Venice
By Anne Hanley
“Tourists are returning home.” “Venice is not Disneyland.” On the first and fascinating visit to this fairy-tale city, few tourists will notice – no offense to it – the ubiquitous graffiti throughout the picturesque palace. If there’s going to be a rude awakening, it’ll probably come in the form of a staggering bill for a sit-down ice cream and coffee or an eye-wateringly expensive gondola ride.
Venetians walk a fine line between opposing excessive tourism that turns normal life in the city into a nightmare, and knowing that the income generated from these same tourists keeps the city afloat. Alongside anti-tourist rhetoric, citizens are also targeted to rent accommodation through major booking platforms, making it almost impossible for locals to find affordable housing.
Prices aside, visitors to the lagoon city are more likely to encounter indifference rather than open hostility. Your experience of Venice depends largely on how well you understand its quirks. Stop at the bar for your aperitif and cicchetti (delicious snacks) and you’ll spend half as much as tourists waiting for table service. Take the right side street and you’ll find bars, restaurants and shops that cater to locals rather than selling overpriced tourist stuff.
Visitors won’t feel unwelcome when they stumble upon this parallel city, but Venetians are understandably keen to guard some of their secrets, creating little corners where they can breathe easy and have an affordable spritz away from the chaos of the city. main tourist attractions.
Of course, there are times when frustration surfaces: The decades-long angry demonstrations against cruise ships in the lagoon are one example. But there are many who show that the Venetians were patient, or at least resigned, in the face of the wretched visitor stupidity. Take, for example, the recent case of the gondolier who personally dragged his passengers across the canal to safety after his instructions to sit down or risk capsizing the boat were ignored in the face of the perfect selfie opportunity.
Amsterdam
by Callum Booth
Amsterdam’s government is known for its hostile attitude towards tourists, and although the city’s residents are a generally tolerant bunch, a growing number of them are fed up with the number of visitors.
An example of a locally organized movement against tourists is “Stop de Gekte” (meaning “Stop the Madness”). This is a grassroots organization operating primarily in De Wallen in the center of Amsterdam.
On weekends, some members form a “red light district guard” and patrol the area. They do not directly engage in the chaos, but instead document debauchery and bad behavior.
This invariably leads to certain videos or photos going viral, and with it widespread press coverage and public pressure on the government to make changes.
A representative from the group, who preferred to remain anonymous, told me that the problem they see with tourism has not only made the area “busier than ever” but has also led to continued depravity.
“It’s strange to see even young couples with their children [staring] To the poor girls in the windows [of the red light district]” they tell me. “Prostitution has unfortunately become a tourist attraction.”
Stop de Gekte is not the only grassroots response to the overtourism Amsterdam is witnessing. In the second half of 2023, visitors and locals alike encountered official-looking posters throughout the city declaring that crack and heroin were legal in some areas.
Although this turned out to be the work of an art collective protesting the Netherlands’ drug laws, the posters’ similarity to notices in the red light district warning tourists not to smoke marijuana or drink alcohol was clearly intentional. Like Stop de Gekte’s evidence of the depravity of the red light district, this poster campaign was intended to offend locals and visitors alike.