A viral video showing a TikToker dancing through Malaga city centre with a loudspeaker while a stag party member rides a children’s toy motorbike in the background has sparked a furious backlash from locals.

The footage, filmed in the heart of the city, was shared on social media this week and quickly reignited debate about overtourism, rising rents and the changing character of Malaga’s historic centre.

In the video, the ‘influencer’ can be seen wheeling a large speaker blasting out music in the heart of Malaga city, before she begins dancing in a square next to restaurant terraces.

At one moment, a group of men on a stag do – one of them riding a children’s toy motorbike – can be seen struggling to get past her.

Spanish journalist Jose Garcia shared the clip on X, and wrote: ‘This video from the centre of Malaga made me sad.

‘The girl with the giant loudspeaker putting on a show, the stag party behind her, the signs for city centre hostels in English… Malagueños, I hope you’re okay.’

The post prompted hundreds of comments from residents, many of whom said the city centre no longer feels like it belongs to locals.

‘Malaga city centre has become an amusement park,’ wrote one user.

Another added: ‘The people of Malaga have been pushed out of the centre and it has been turned into a theme park.’

A third said: ‘We don’t have room for one more idiot.’

Others linked the scene to the wider housing crisis affecting the city.

‘We’re trapped between speculators and criminals. Some make life more expensive and the others take away what little we have left,’ one commenter wrote.

Another claimed: ‘I don’t know a single person from Malaga who goes into the city centre anymore.’

The viral clip also triggered complaints about the growing dominance of English in tourist hotspots.

One resident wrote: ‘I’m from Malaga. I went into a shop on Calle Larios and the assistants spoke to me in English before I’d even opened my mouth.’

Several users compared Malaga’s transformation to that of Barcelona, where tensions over mass tourism have led to repeated protests.

‘Mother of God, I feel sorry for you people in Malaga. You’re becoming Barcelona,’ one commenter wrote.

Not everyone blamed tourists directly, however.

One of the most-liked comments argued: ‘The people who turn cities into theme parks for tourists are the same ones who later talk about preserving national identity.’

The debate comes amid growing concern in Malaga over soaring rents, the expansion of holiday accommodation and the increasing perception among residents that the historic centre is being reshaped primarily for visitors.

Whether viewed as harmless entertainment or a symbol of deeper frustrations, the video has once again exposed the growing divide between those who benefit from Malaga’s tourism boom and those who feel increasingly alienated by it.

As one local put it: ‘We’re very tired of all this.’