Thousands of furious anti-tourism protesters take to the streets of Spanish holiday hotspots and call on locals to superglue holiday rental locks
Tens of thousands of furious Spaniards have taken to the streets across the country to demand a solution to a housing crisis that they say has been fuelled by mass tourism.
Tens of thousands of furious Spaniards have taken to the streets across the country to demand a solution to a housing crisis that they say has been fuelled by mass tourism.
The demonstrations in major Spanish towns and cities including Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga and Palma de Mallorca come as the country finds itself struggling to balance the promotion of tourism and addressing citizens concerns over increasing housing costs.
Meanwhile, protesters have been urged to superglue the locks of holiday rentals by organizers as they made calls to disrupt holidaymakers.
According to organizers, 30,000 people took to the streets of Malaga - a seaside town in the south of Spain which is popular among British and German holidaymakers - as they demanded solutions to the housing crisis, with banners reading: Houses for the people of Málaga. Hotels for tourists, affordable rents.
But police have reported that around 5,000 demonstrators took part in the Malaga march.
Residents were photographed holding banners with the slogan: Houses for the people of Málaga. Hotels for tourists.
Some have also hung posters from their balconies and windows with messages saying: Housing is a right, not a business.
Meanwhile in Madrid, around 15,000 people gathered in the capitals neighbourhood of Atocha and marched towards Plaza de Espana shouting slogans like: Landlords are thieves and Madrid will be the tomb of rentals.
Angry renters have pointed to instances of international hedge funds buying up properties, often with the aim of renting them to foreign tourists.
An aerial view of people gathering to protest soaring housing prices as part of a nationwide demonstration organized by tenant unions under the slogan End the Housing Business in Madrid, Spain on April 05, 2025
According to Spains central bank, almost 40% of Spanish families who rent spend nearly half of their income on housing. Pictured: Mallorca is not for sale reads a protest banner held by a girl in a march against housing prices and the impact of tourism on the residents of the Balearic Islands, in Palma, Mallorca
The demonstrations took place in major Spanish towns and cities including Madrid, Barcelona, Malaga and Palma de Mallorca
The question has become so politically charged that Barcelonas city government pledged last year to phase out all its 10,000 permits for short-term rentals, many of them advertised on platforms like Airbnb, by 2028.
Marchers in Madrid on Saturday chanted Get Airbnb out of our neighborhoods and held up signs against short-term rentals.
No more leaving our neighborhoods, our homes, or even our cities every five or seven years, said Valeria Racu, spokesperson for the Madrid tenants union, in a statement at the start of the demonstration.
Were calling on the half-million households whose contracts expire in 2025 to stay home and resist, she added.
Irate activists aired their grievances to the angry mobs filling the streets, taking aim at the touristification of resorts along Spains coasts.
In the southern city of Murcia, 500 people chanted: We will not tolerate one more eviction.
Up north in Santander, a city on Spains Atlantic coast, residents demanded public houses.
No houses without people, no people without houses, everyone under a roof, housing is a right, those in attendance chanted.
A generation of young people say they have to stay with their parents or spend big just to share an apartment, with little chance of saving enough to one day purchase a home.
Protests took place in more than 30 cities across Spain, highlighting growing concerns over unaffordable rent and the housing crisis
Thousands gathered in Madrid today to protest against a housing crisis caused by tourists
The average rent in Spain has almost doubled in the last 10 years
Last year, Spain saw a record-breaking number of tourists, with over 15 million visitors flocking to the island of Mallorca alone
Todays protests are the latest in a spate of demonstrations that rocked Spain last summer, as tens of thousands of fed up locals filled the streets to protest mass tourism
High housing costs mean even those with traditionally well-paying jobs are struggling to make ends meet.
According to Spains central bank, almost 40% of Spanish families who rent spend nearly half of their income on housing.
In April last year the government said it would scrap its so-called golden visa programme granting residency rights to foreigners who make large investments in real estate in the country, which the Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said would help make access to affordable housing a right instead of a speculative business.
The average rent in Spain has almost doubled in the last 10 years.
The price per square meter rose from 7.2 euros in 2014 to 13 euros last year, according to real estate website Idealista. The increase is bigger in Madrid and Barcelona.
Incomes have failed to keep up, especially for younger people in a country with chronically high unemployment.
Spain does not have the public housing that other European nations have invested in to cushion struggling renters from a market that is pricing them out.
Todays protests are the latest in a spate of demonstrations that rocked Spain last summer, as tens of thousands of fed up locals filled the streets to protest mass tourism.
Police officers stand guard during a protest to demand lower housing rental prices and better living conditions, in Madrid, Spain
Police officers intervene during a protest to demand lower housing rental prices and better living conditions, in Madrid
Anti-tourism campaigners have long been contesting the current tourism model
Last month, anti-tourism campaigners issued a chilling warning to British holidaymakers after they threatened to unleash more chaos this summer
Slogan pictured in a demonstration in Madrid today that says: right to roof
Protesters were urged today to superglue the locks of holiday rentals by organizers as they made calls to disrupt holidaymakers
Protests took place across 40 Spanish cities today
Incomes in Spain have failed to keep up with rising housing costs, especially for younger people in a country with chronically high unemployment
Anti-tourism campaigners have long been contesting the current tourism model, claiming that many locals have been priced out by holidaymakers, expats and foreign buyers.
Last year, Spain saw a record-breaking number of tourists, with over 15 million visitors flocking to the island of Mallorca alone.
In response, protestors took to the streets across Spain, leaving countless visitors fuming after paying hundreds of pounds to enjoy their holidays abroad.
Actions included marches on the street with protesters chanting tourists go home, as well as demonstrations on beaches which saw locals boo and jeer at sun-soaked tourists.
In one particular instance, up to 50,000 locals descended onto the streets of the Mallorca capital Palma.
Meanwhile in Barcelona, some 2,800 people marched along a waterfront district of Barcelona to demand a new economic model that would reduce the millions of tourists that visit every year.
Protesters carried signs reading Barcelona is not for sale, and, Tourists go home, before some used water guns on tourists eating outdoors at restaurants in popular tourist hotspots.
Chants of Tourists out of our neighbourhood rang out as some stopped in front of the entrances to hotels.
Last month, anti-tourism campaigners issued a chilling warning to British holidaymakers after they threatened to unleash more chaos.
With summer holidays looming, the Mallorcan anti-tourism campaign group Banc del Temps Sencells posted a video hinting that there will be more action taken.
In the clip, locals can be seen marching through Mallorcas streets holding For Sale signs, as they vent about how they are being priced out by tourists.