Problems with the growing tourism market in Spain

The COVID-19 pandemic was the most disruptive interruption to the growth of tourism the world had experienced; lockdowns, travel bans, and social distancing made even locally-based tourism almost impossible. Since the world opened up in 2022, and with it a return to mass tourism, a new challenge has emerged: tourism protests.

In July and August, thousands of people protested against the growth in tourism in many of their most popular tourist centres, such as Barcelona, Mallorca, and the Canary Islands. Protests have taken the form of people marching carrying placards along popular beaches in Mallorca to protestors squirting tourists using water pistols in the centre of Barcelona in a movement called "Menys Turisme, Més Vida", or "Less Tourism, More Life".

One of the key driving factors behind the protests is how the growth in tourism in Spain has pushed up house prices and rents. As more accommodation in Spain’s popular tourist destinations is turned into hotels, holiday houses, and Air BnB lets, the increase in housing costs in tourist destinations has made these locations unaffordable for the local Spanish population.

The protest organisers have emphasised that the protests are not against tourism, per se, but they feel a more balanced approach to the industry's growth in Spain is needed. UNESCO, which advocates for sustainable tourism, supports this view.

Tourism is hugely important to the Spanish economy, which accounts for 15 per cent of its GDP.  Tourism accounted for 0.9 per cent of Spain's 2.3 per cent economic growth rate last year. One of the problems with the tourism industry is that the wider benefits to the Spanish Economy, such as rising incomes and tax revenues generated, are spread across the wider economy. In contrast, the costs, such as higher housing costs, overcrowded streets, litter and traffic congestion, are concentrated in tourist areas.   

The Spanish government is considering its policy options. One method of controlling tourist numbers is to use a tourist tax. The increased price of tourism, coming from the tax, can ration it more effectively, and the revenue from the tax can be used to improve infrastructure in holiday destinations. Regulations such as limiting the number of holiday homes and the construction of hotels could be used to deal with some of the housing pressure from tourism.

Without some sort of government intervention, the problems associated with Spanish tourism growth will get worse. Going on holiday is increasingly how people want to spend their discretionary income, and this is going to bring increasing numbers of tourists to the most popular destinations in Spain.

Some possible questions to discuss with a class

1. What factors have led to the growth in Spain's tourism industry? 

2. Why are people who live in Spain's tourism centres protesting?

3. What are the benefits of increasing the number of tourists travelling to Spain's tourist centres?

4. Discuss the policies the Spanish government might use to deal with the problems of over-tourism.