Fresh anti-tourism graffiti has appeared in Malaga amid growing tensions over the impact of holiday rentals on local residents.
Slogans reading ‘Tourists go home’ and ‘Guiris go home’ emerged sprayed across walls near new tourist apartments in the city.
The graffiti appeared on the Avenida Europa footbridge area, close to Malaga’s Provincial Library and beside newly developed tourist flats.
The apartments previously sparked controversy after attempts were allegedly made to privatise part of a public street for them.
The images were shared by activist collective La Vecina Malaga, which claimed the vandalism reflects mounting anger among residents who feel they are being ‘expelled’ from their own city by rising housing costs and uncontrolled tourism growth.
In a statement accompanying the photographs, the group said many locals ‘cannot take it anymore’ as property prices and rental costs continue to climb beyond the reach of ordinary residents.
The activists accused Malaga City Hall of showing ‘astonishing and inexplicable passivity’ while tourist accommodation expands across the city.
La Vecina Malaga also called on the council to make greater use of its legal powers to control both licensed and illegal tourist apartments, halt permissions allowing commercial premises to be converted into what it described as ‘subhuman housing’, and build more affordable VPO social housing.
The group directly addressed Malaga mayor Francisco de la Torre, warning that a city can ‘die from success’ when tourism and residential demand overwhelm infrastructure and housing supply.
According to the activists, this process risks transforming authentic neighbourhoods into ‘artificial, unsustainable and stressful’ spaces while ‘accelerating gentrification’ and pushing locals out of the city centre.
The graffiti is the latest sign of growing anti-tourism sentiment in Malaga.
Activists recently sounded off online over plans to convert a traditional fishing village into a new ‘tourism epicentre’.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
