Spain remains in the grip of overtourism, but some cities have moved to tackle the issue.
As frustration among locals grows and erupts in demonstrations and widely-attended marches, many in the tourism industry have placed the blame on the massive rise of holiday rentals.
These short lets have been accused by many angry locals of pushing up rent and prompting residents to move out from the heart of their cities.
The issue is made worse by the many homes that have been illegally turned into holiday lets.
To ease the pressure created by these accommodations on the local population, Spain’s capital Madrid has decided to put the brakes on granting new licences for tourist flats.
The city, plagued by illegal tourist flats, has suspended granting new licences to let accommodations to tourists until 2025.
Madrid counts some 13,500 flats for short-term tourism lets, out of which only about 1,000 are legal, according to data published on the city council’s website.
The whole of Spain has seen a massive rise in holiday lets in recent years. Figures by the country’s statistics institute INE suggest there are more than 351,000 holiday lets scattered around Spain, amounting to more than 1.75 million beds.
For comparison, the massive hotel industry in Spain counts around 1.9 million beds throughout the country, according to Spanish news outlet SUR.
Demonstrations against overtourism have been seen in particular in the Balearics and Canaries. However, people have come together to voice their frustration also in Madrid, particularly in the neighbourhoods most affected by real estate speculation.
Moreover, a more silent form of protest can be seen in some neighbourhoods in the city where tourist lets have taken over residents’ homes, with stickers often plastered across doorways and doorbells reading, “F**k Airbnb”.