Angry mob of protesters drench tourists with water in Barcelona
Tourists enjoying a nice meal in one of the world’s most popular cities have been attacked by locals as overtourism reaches boiling point.
Tourists enjoying a nice meal in one of the world’s most popular cities have been attacked by locals as overtourism reaches boiling point.
Footage shared by the BBC on Monday shows tourists at a number of different restaurants being hounded out by locals in the hugely-popular Spanish city, Barcelona.
In the vision, visitors to the city can be seen packing their things and leaving as they are squirted with water pistols by a huge crowd that descended on the most popular tourist areas.
About 2800 locals took part in the protest and marched under the slogan “Enough! Let’s put limits on tourism” and held banners proclaiming “Barcelona not for sale” and “Tourists go home”.
It comes after officials in the European city announced they would hike their daily tourist charge for the second time this year.
Holidaymakers travelling to Barcelona will see the tax raise once again from October.
As well as an increase on daily tourist charges, there will be a full ban on holiday apartments.
It comes after the cosmopolitan capital previously upped their traveller tax from €2.75 ($A4.40) to €3.25 ($A5.25) in April.
Now, holiday-makers will be pay €4 ($6.45) for city tax from October to enjoy the beauties Barcelona has to offer.
Regional tourist tax is charged measured where you’re staying.
A luxury hotel will cost tourists €3.50 ($A5.65), while an Airbnb will only be €2.25 ($A5.65).
Meanwhile, the city tax is flat rate charged per night, for up to seven nights.
This means from October, a tourist will have to pay a total of €52.50 ($A84.45) to stay in a five-star hotel for a week.
The figure includes the €3.50 per night in regional tax, and €4 per night in city tax.
Meanwhile, a ban on short-term holiday rentals is due to be implemented in 2028.
It comes after the Barcelona city council vowed to promote “quality tourism”.
At present, around 32 million holiday-makers arrive per year.
The boost in funds is also due to raise their annual income from €95 million ($A152 million) to €115 million ($A184 million).
This will be poured into city services and infrastructure to cope with the ever-growing tourist demand.
It comes after protests were held in Venice after the country imposed a similar fee on short stay visitors.
Day-trippers were charged €5 ($A8) if visiting the historical Italian centre, the first to bill holiday-makers an entry fee, from late April until May 5.
Holidaymakers travelling to a major UK destination have been also warned they may have to pay a visitor tax.
A debate has been sparked over whether or not to introduce a tourist in Cornwall and Devon – but officials say they can “certainly envision” it implemented.
Similar talks have also been held in Cambridge, Edinburgh, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole as tourists continue to flood the popular hotspots.
Meanwhile, Manchester introduced their own tourist tax in April last year.
The new levy, the first in the UK, features a £1 ($A1.90) charge per room per night, capped at 21 consecutive nights.
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It is hoped the new tax, called the “City Visitor Charge”, will raise £3 million ($A5 million) a year for the city.
The tourist tax is also being imposed in the city of Portimão on Portugal’s Algarve coast. Portimão’s Mayor Isilda Gomes said the tourist tax could raise “a few million euros” for the city.
— with The Sun
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