Hundreds of Alicante locals joined a fresh anti-tourism protest on Friday night, telling holidaymakers to ‘go home’ and that ‘we are not your theme park.’
The demonstration, attended by the Spanish Eye, took place in the centre of Alicante city as tourists were sitting down to dinner on restaurant terraces.
Demonstrators held up placards reading ‘refugees welcome, tourists go home’ and ‘your tourism, our misery’.
READ MORE: Exclusive: ‘Our flat in Spain was squatted and turned into a brothel’
One sign read: ‘Depending on tourism only brings more poverty, inequality and less of a future.’
One Spanish pensioner held up a sign in English which said: ‘I’m a neighbour, not an extra at your theme park.’
One Spaniard donned a yellow t-shirt emblazoned with the message: ‘Tourist go home, thank you’, while his friend held up a white t-shirt that had ‘tourism is robbing us’ written on it.
The action began outside the iconic 80 Mundos library and book store, which is being forced to close after the building was bought by a wealthy family who plan to turn it into holiday apartments – sparking widespread anger.
‘They are not Airbnb, they are our homes,’ read another sign, while one mockingly said: ‘Sun, sea and gentrification.’
The protest was organised by local activist group Alicante Donde Vas (Alicante where are you headed).
In a call on social media for people to join the demonstration, it wrote: ‘For every new tourist flat, a family evicted, a business closed, and we will not remain silent and will take to the streets.
‘To the cry of ‘Alicante, not for sale’, we will show that the locals of Alicante are fed up of the direction taken by this city, that we cannot live in our own neighbourhoods, we are fed up of predatory tourism that condemns us to misery.’
Alicante is a hugely popular area for British expats and tourists, with the hedonistic resort of Benidorm a short drive away.
It has typically shied away from joining the so-called ‘anti-tourism movement’ that is sweeping other destinations, such as Tenerife and Mallorca.
According to the organisers, one of the goals ‘is to raise public awareness about the impact of tourist apartments on the quality of life of Alicante’s residents.’
In a statement, they said: ‘The city has experienced a proliferation of tourist apartments, and the corresponding rise in rental prices has led to the expulsion of many families and residents who can no longer maintain their homes in the city or access any housing.’
The group specifically cited the 80 Mundos bookstore backlash, which it said is ‘leaving its customers without this historic space so important to the city in exchange for offering more vacation rentals.’
This trend, they believe, is turning Alicante into a theme park for ‘drunken tourism and leaving the people who live in the neighbourhood without their own spaces.’
They fear ‘the authentic character of some neighbourhoods is being lost, increasing the cost of living for local residents and putting pressure on urban resources, while at the same time attracting foreign investors seeking to take advantage of this economic trend that the institutions have failed to curb.’
The organisers said they want to ‘draw the attention of the authorities and promote policies that regulate the use of housing for tourist purposes, ensuring that Alicante remains a habitable and welcoming place for all.’
Read more Spain news at the Spanish Eye.
