Protesters used water pistols on Sunday and unsuspecting tourists on Spain’s island of Mallorca as protesters marched to reconsider the economic model they thought was being cheered on and masked the character of their hometown.
The march is part of a coordinated effort with activists in the crisis in the top destinations in Southern Europe, including Venice, Italy, the capital of Lisbon in Portugal and several other Spanish regions.
“Spray guns will disturb tourists,” Andreu Martínez said with a smile in Barcelona. “Barcelona has been handed over to tourists. It's a struggle to send Barcelona back to residents.”
Martínez, a 42-year-old administrative assistant, is one of the growing number of residents who believe that tourism is going too far in a city of 1.7 million. Barcelona hosted 15.5 million tourists last year, eager to see Antoni Gaudí’s La Sagrada family cathedral and the Las Ramblas Promenade.
Martinez said his rents rose by more than 30% as apartments near him were rented for tourists for short-term accommodation. He said traditional stores, which were replaced by businesses, cater to tourists, such as souvenir shops, burger joints and “bubble tea” locations.
“As lifelong residents of Barcelona, our lives are about to end,” he said. “We are being pushed out systematically.”
People marched during a protest in Barcelona, Spain on Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Pau Venteo).
About 5,000 people gathered in Palma, the capital of Majorca, with some small guns and shouted “Where you see, all you see is the tourists.” The tourists who were blasted by the water laughed. Balearic is a favorite of the sun seekers in Britain and Germany. Home costs soar as homes are transferred to the short-term rental market.
Hundreds marched in Granada in southern Spain and in the northern city of San Sebastian and Ibiza.
In Venice, dozens of protesters announced a banner in front of two recently completed buildings, a banner called for a stop, staying in front of two recently completed buildings, one in the historic center of a popular tourist destination, an activist said the last resident was an elderly woman who was kicked out last year.
Protesters in Barcelona whistled and raised signs of homemade, saying: “Other tourist, a resident,” they insisted that “citizen self-defense” said in Catalonia “citizen self-defense” and “tour home”, in English, and painted water pistols on the doors of hotels and hotels.
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There was tension as the parade stopped in front of a large hotel, and a group cleared the water guns at the entrance of two workers. They also set down firecrackers next to the hotel and opened up a can of pink smoke. A worker slammed the protester as he slammed the dormitory door.
A plain policeman left attempts to stop a man from protesting against a water pistol during a protest in Barcelona, Spain on Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Pau Venteo).
The protests began as American tourists Wanda and Bill Dorozenski took a walk along Barcelona's main luxury shopping boulevard. They received a jet or two, but she said it was actually refreshing considering the 83 degrees Fahrenheit (28.3 degrees Celsius).
“It's so good, thank you, my dear,” Wanda said to the rat. “I won't complain. These people feel very personal to them and may be destroying (some parts of the city).”
There are also many parades with water pistols who do not fire at the bystanders, but use them only to spray themselves to keep them cool.
Cities around the world are struggling to cope with mass tourism and boom in short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb, but perhaps in a protest last summer, Barcelona protesters in Barcelona were unhappy when tourists first shot at tourists.
Spain’s pro-house and anti-tourism struggle also have a blend of, with his 48 million residents welcoming a record 94 million international tourists in 2024. While thousands of people marched on the streets of the Spanish capital in April, some homemade signs held said “bring Airbnb to our vicinity.”
Spanish authorities are working to show that they have heard strong public protests without hurting industries that make up 12% of GDP.
Last month, the Spanish government ordered Airbnb to remove nearly 66,000 holiday rents from the platform, which violated local rules.
Spain's Consumer Rights Minister Pablo Bustinduy told the Associated Press shortly after the crackdown on Airbnb that the tourism sector “can't endanger the constitutional rights of the Spanish people”, which gave them rights to housing and welfare. Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said in another interview that the government is aware that it must address the unnecessary side effects of mass tourism.
The boldest move was made by Barcelona's Town Hall, which shocked Airbnb and other services, helping visitors rent out properties by announcing last year that it announced the phase-out of all 10,000 short-term rental licenses in the city by 2028.
That sentiment returned to effect Sunday, with people holding up signs that read “Your Airbnb is my home.”
“Take the house away”
As far as the short-term rental industry is concerned, it believes it is being treated unfairly.
Airbnb Spain and Portugal Director Jaime Rodríguez de Santiago recently told AP.
People marched during protests in the Balearic Islands in Mallorca, Spain on Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu Parra).
Em
The argument either didn't drip into the average residents of Barcelona or did not resonate.
A Barcelona teacher, Txema Escorsa, not only opposes Airbnb in his hometown, but he no longer uses it even when traveling elsewhere.
“In the end, you realize that this is taking housing from people,” he said.
AP Video Journalist Hernán Múñoz in Barcelona and Associated Press writer Colleen Barry in Venice, Italy contributed.
