Tourist apartments in the heart of Sevilla have been vandalised with fresh anti-tourism graffiti as tensions over the city’s booming holiday rental sector continue to simmer.
The Spanish Eye found several examples of newly spray-painted slogans in the historic centre on Tuesday, including the message ‘Nazis fuera’ (‘Nazis out’) daubed across a block of holiday apartments.
The message was right below the official blue ‘AT’ plaque used to identify licensed tourist accommodation.
The graffiti was discovered on Calle de Veronica, just a short walk from Las Setas and other major tourist attractions, in an area that has seen a sharp rise in holiday rentals in recent years.
The building next door was targeted with the slogan ‘El barrio pa vivir’ (‘The neighbourhood is for living’).
The phrase is commonly associated with anti-tourism and housing activists who argue that residential areas are being transformed into short-term holiday zones at the expense of local residents.
The vandalism comes amid growing frustration in Sevilla over soaring rents, housing shortages and the proliferation of tourist apartments in central districts.
While tourism remains one of the city’s most important economic drivers, critics say the rapid expansion of short-term rentals has pushed up housing costs and forced many locals out of traditional neighbourhoods.
It comes after a string of Airbnb flats were vandalised in the city’s iconic Alameda de Hercules in March of this year.
Walls were sprayed with ‘Fuera Airbnb’ graffiti, while key lockboxes used by holiday rentals were deliberately sabotaged after being stuffed with what appeared to be silicone to stop them working.
Elsewhere, a large banner reading ‘Fuera Airbnb de Sevilla’ (Airbnb out of Sevilla) was unfurled on the famous Triana bridge.
A young activist group from called Juventud en Marcha said in a post on X at the time: ‘Today dawns in Sevilla with a very clear message: Out with Airbnb from Sevilla!
‘Because we want cities for living, not theme parks that drive neighbours out of their own neighbourhoods.
Less tourism, more life.’
The coordinated incident took place in the early hours of a Friday morning, with residents reporting that the paint of the graffiti was still fresh at daybreak.
Only properties linked to tourist rentals – identified by the presence of key lockboxes – were singled out.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
