Tourism can affect cities in vastly different ways. For some places, it’s a huge boost to the local economy, bringing money to businesses like restaurants, cafés and hotels, and allowing communities to share their culture and heritage with visitors.
In other places, too much tourism becomes a problem. Vast numbers of tourists can overcrowd small communities – see Zaanse Schans, a tiny Dutch village that will soon charge visitors to enter in a bid to ward some of them off. Overtourism can also lead to housing shortages or general unwanted disturbances.
Spain is one of the worst-affected countries when it comes to overtourism, and authorities across the country have been enacting measures designed to prioritise the needs of local people, with the latest effort coming out of Benidorm.
Tacky t-shirt ban: Benidorm follows Barcelona’s lead
Last year, Barcelona banned ‘offensive’ tourist products: t-shirts adorned with penises, tea towels with ‘sexist or homophobic’ messaging on them, and other generally not-PG imagery or text. Benidorm has now announced that it will join Barca, strictly enforcing an existing ban on products which ‘might hurt people’s moral sensitivity’.
Javier Jordá, Benidorm’s head of commerce, said that the council wants to ‘[ensure] that minors or vulnerable communities are not exposed to offensive messages in public spaces’. Benidorm is massively popular with British tourists, and the ‘Guiri zone’, a central strip that’s primarily tourist-focused, is full of shops selling miscellaneous items with inappropriate messaging.
These ‘sexy’ products will still be allowed to be sold, so any upcoming hen dos need fear not. However, any retailer advertising them outside or in their windows could face up to €3,000 in fines.
Overtourism in Spain
It’s not just offensive tat that locals are sick of. The number of visitors coming into certain popular destinations in Spain has been unmanageable for some time now.
Housing is a central concern; as more and more homes turn into short-term holiday lets, there are fewer places for locals to live. That’s why residents in Malaga recently penned an open letter asking property investors to leave, and also the reason the government has imposed strict regulations on holiday rentals, causing 65,000 properties to come off the market earlier this year, and a further 53,000 removed last month.
Did you see that this city has been crowned Europe’s newest ‘Green Capital’?
Plus: European Sleeper is set to launch two new overnight services to these exciting cities.
