The people of Málaga are expected to take to the streets in thousands to protest mass tourism in southern Spain.

Following previous protests in the Canary and Balearic islands, demonstrators from Andalusian sites like Granada, Seville, and Cádiz are expected to join, while another protest is due a week later in Barcelona.

The Canary Islands, which have a population of 2.2 million, hosted 13.9 million visitors last year. Its locals said last month that the tourism industry is depleting natural resources and increasingly pricing them out of the market. Tourism accounts for about 35% of the Islands' GDP, as in 2022 it brought in €16.9 billion.

Over 100 million tourists are expected to visit the country this year—more than double the country's population.

Housing, overcrowding, neglect

The main reason driving the protest is housing, but complaints also include the overcrowding of public areas and services like public transportation and the neglect of small businesses. Historic metropolitan neighborhoods have been hollowed down and local populations forced out by the immense tourist apartment trade.

Previously serving as a base for tourists visiting the well-developed Costa del Sol resorts, Malaga has become a destination of its own due to a swift gentrification process driving out locals from their houses. Catherine Powell, Airbnb's worldwide head of hosting, Malaga is the company's most sought-after travel destination.

Meanwhile, Curro Machuca of the Málaga tenants’ union said, “The people who work in the tourism industry can’t afford the rent in their own city. As long as housing is seen as a marketable asset, there won’t be a solution,” adding, “We believe that basing the economy of Málaga on the monoculture of tourism is unsustainable and has to change.”

Low housing and no renewals

Olalla Luque Colmenero of the Granada pressure group Albayzín Habitable, which campaigns for the city’s historic Albayzín quarter, a Unesco world heritage site, said, “It’s all very well being a world heritage site but it isn’t just about architecture; the heritage is the people and their traditions as well and the social aspect, which is what we’re losing”.

She stressed, “Tourism is important to the city, but what we object to is tourism that pushes people out of their homes.”

Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni's announcement this week that the 10,000 authorized tourist apartments in the city will not have their licenses renewed when they expire in 2028 made headlines, as more cities are expected to follow. 

One of the organizers of this Saturday's protest in the city - to host demonstrators from over 80 organizations marching under the banner "Enough! Let’s put limits on tourism" - is Barcelona housing campaigner Martí Cusó, who called Collboni's action "propaganda more than anything".

“We need to stop spending €80m a year on promoting the city abroad,” said Cusó, noting, “It’s not just about limiting tourism but guaranteeing the rights of the people who live here.”

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In April, addressing the difficult housing situation in many areas across the Canary Islands due to high prices, low wages, lack of public housing, and the constant cost of living crisis, the spokesperson for the Canarias se Agota (The Canaries Have Had Enough) collective Víctor Martín said, "I realized we’d reached the limit when I saw people who were working as hotel maids or waiters were living in shacks."

"Wages are so low that they don’t cover the basic costs of living – especially in the current crisis, which is global, but has been felt keenly in the Canaries because we have to import practically everything," he emphasized. 

According to Martín, a suitable study of the issues the Islands are facing could have a global impact, "This rethinking of the tourism model could put the Canaries on the map as an example of sustainable tourism development."