What to expect from the mass tourism protests across Spain in June
If you're coming to Spain this June, your visit may coincide with overtourism protests that'll take place in many places across the country. Here's what we know so far about the demos and disruption to travel that protesters are planning.
The Southern Europe Network Against Touristification (SET) met in Barcelona last week to discuss more solutions for problems caused by overtourism and called for mass protests on Sunday June 15th "and the urgent need to limit the growth of tourism”.
The planned marches and disruptions are due to take place in cities not only across Spain but in Italy and Portugal too.
Spanish cities and islands that will be joining the cause in Spain include Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza, the Canary Islands, and San Sebastián, but it’s likely that others could join such as Málaga and Seville which have organised their own overtourism protests in the past.
Therefore, this will the first time that all these anti-mass tourism protests take place on the same day. There was a similar approach in early April when tens of thousands of citizens across 40 cities in Spain took to the streets to demand more effective measures to combat the country’s housing crisis.
Other cities reportedly taking part across southern Europe include Naples, Palermo, Venice and Lisbon.
Organisations that make up the SET network refer to the need for the demonstrations to "make it clear that territories are not for sale”.
As well as marches through crowded tourist areas, they are planning picket lines at airports and famous landmarks, blockades for tour buses and occupations of key tourist sites.
Issues the protesters hope to highlight including housing shortages due vacation rentals displacing local residents, steep rises in rental costs, overcrowded public transport systems, as well environmental degradation caused by the sheer number of visitors.
READ ALSO: Barcelona protesters block tourist bus and spray water on holidaymakers
The network claim that overtourism ultimately "impoverishes people, makes it impossible for them to access affordable housing, and concentrates the economy and jobs in this sector, which is as unjust as it is exploitative”.
They have also cited environmental reasons for the marches saying that tourism creates “an ecological crisis, pollutes water, air, and soil, accounting for 9 percent of the emissions responsible for global warming”.
READ ALSO: Spain scores record tourism numbers in first quarter of 2025
So far this is all that has been announced, it's not yet clear if other cities will join in or how big and how far-reaching these protests will be.
If you are planning on travelling on June 15th or will be on holiday in a major Spanish tourism hotspot on that day it's worth noting that there could be delays at airports and other transport hubs. You may also want to avoid big tourist sights such as Barcelona's Sagrada Família.
READ ALSO: How to travel sustainably and responsibly in Spain
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