Attacked with water pistols and hatred, the “tourist-going-home season” has started again

The war on tourism begins anew now that COVID-19 quarantines are officially over. Anti-travel attacks remain commonplace in 2024, from the spraying of two private jets at Britain’s Stansted Airport to attempts to blockade US airports to an attempt to ban Israelis from entering the Maldives.

What if there were an Olympic Games and no one came? That probably won’t happen in Paris this summer, despite the violence, but many Europeans say they don’t want tourists.

In the United States, Maui is still recovering from the devastating fire that killed 102 people and destroyed historic Lahaina. Although the Maui Economic Development Board says the island’s tourism industry accounts for nearly four out of every five dollars earned there, one young hotel worker admitted that in Hawaii, “you’re kind of raised to hate tourists.” Such attitudes, along with the Hawaii Tourism Authority’s ambivalence toward tourism, have left many feeling that tourists, no matter how respectful, are unwelcome.

The latest news from the anti-tourist front says that Barcelona residents have attacked foreign restaurant guests with water pistols. Protesters have even put up barrier tape around the entrances to hotels and cafes.

Time Magazine thought the whole thing was a big joke. “Thousands of angry Barcelona residents took to the streets over the weekend to protest against mass tourism in the Spanish city. Their weapon of choice? The humble water pistol.”

“Video footage showed protesters using colorful pistols to spray water at travelers dining in Las Ramblas, a tourist-heavy area. As the drenched tourists scurried clumsily away, Catalans were seen chanting “Tourists, go home” and using red tape to block the entrances to hotels and restaurants. Other protesters held signs reading “Tourism is killing the city.”

Visitors to Barcelona found the “protest” neither friendly nor funny. “Tourists enjoying a nice meal in one of the world’s most popular cities were attacked by locals as overtourism reached boiling point,” said one report. BBC footage showed 2,800 protesters attacking tourists, shooting them with water pistols and chasing them out of restaurants and cafes.

In photos, the tourists who were victims of the attack look full of fear and confusion. Was this a terrorist attack? What did they spray? Why? Did I do something wrong? Most people would rather run away than fight back, which might have made the situation worse.

In the United States, spraying people with water may be considered assault.

The protests came after the local government increased the tourist tax and announced the end of short-term rentals within five years. Local authorities say housing costs in Barcelona have risen by 68 percent in the last decade. They blame short-term rentals such as Airbnb, but protesters are targeting hotels, restaurants and individual tourists.

While short-term rentals undoubtedly drive up housing prices in Barcelona, ​​tourists visiting the city put money in the pockets of restaurant owners, waitresses’ wallets and bring billions into the city’s economy. In Barcelona, ​​26 million tourists generated spending of 13.8 billion euros in 2023.

Unemployment in Spain is around 11.3 percent, and unemployment among young people aged between 20 and 24 is 25 percent. Nevertheless, 12.6 percent of Spanish jobs are employed in the tourism sector, or 3,018,820 people, an increase of 2.1 percent over the previous year.

Those who took to the streets to terrorize tourists clearly disagree with the Spanish Minister of Industry and Tourism, Jordi Hereau, who said: “The tourism industry is not only growing quantitatively, as shown by this successful record of visits and spending at the destination in 2023, but also – and this is more important – qualitatively, with better jobs in the tourism sector, a lower rate of temporary workers and a greater number of employees with permanent contracts.”

Barcelona is not the only anti-tourist destination in Europe. The Telegraph recently investigated how hostile various European destinations are to British visitors.

On a scale of 1 to 10, Corfu and Provence received a score of 2, Capri a score of 3 and, surprisingly, the tourist-overrun Santorini only received a score of 4. Tenerife received a score of 5 and Venice and Split in Croatia a score of 6 out of 10. Amsterdam and Barcelona are at boiling point: 7 out of 10 people are annoyed by overtourism. Mallorca tops the list of dissatisfied people with 8 out of 10.

In Mallorca, “hardly a week goes by without an anti-tourist demonstration.” In May, more than 10,000 people demonstrated against tourism and the lack of affordable housing. On Sunday, July 21, another anti-tourist demonstration will take place in Mallorca.

“Precisely because we love tourism and believe in our economic model, it is time to set limits,” said the President of the Balearic Islands, Marga Prohens. A tourist tax and a ban on large cruise ships are on the agenda. Venice has done the same, charging a fee of around $5.37 on the 29 busiest days.

However, Venice has a population of just 50,000, a number that can be reached by tourists on a busy day. Barcelona, ​​on the other hand, has 1.7 million people, including 432,000 foreigners, or 25 percent. Do foreign residents, including 43 percent with university degrees, increase competition for housing?

Unfortunately, anti-tourism activism can also be based on prejudice. This spring, the Maldives government decided to ban all Israeli tourists from entering the exotic islands. Last year, nearly 11,000 Israelis visited the Maldives, representing only 0.6% of all tourists. The Maldives is a small Islamic republic of 1,000 coral islands known for its secluded white-sand beaches and turquoise lagoons.

The President of the Maldives, Mohamed Muizzu, “decided to impose a ban on Israeli passports,” citing public anger over the war in Gaza (which began with the October 7 Hamas attack that killed over 1,200 Israelis).

On June 10, the Maldivian parliament introduced a bill to amend the immigration law, banning Israeli passport holders and Israelis with dual citizenship from entering the country. However, Maldivian sources later said it would be difficult to enforce a ban that discriminates exclusively against Israeli Jews, as Israel is also home to over two million Muslims.

An unnamed local businessman added that the Maldives’ image as a safe haven for people of all faiths and nationalities could be damaged. The entry ban on Israelis “could foster the perception that anti-Semitism or religious extremism poses a threat to foreign tourists.”

Or as Reason Magazine put it: “The Maldives’ ban on Israelis is disgraceful. President Mohamed Muizzu cannot claim to be on the right side of history while adhering to a textbook definition of bigotry.”

The affair has caused significant public harm. Personally, I have no intention of flying 24 hours and 32 minutes and paying thousands of dollars to visit a place where discrimination occurs. I don’t care how beautiful the hotels, beaches, surfing or diving are in the Maldives.

Global understanding and appreciation of different cultures are a key contribution of tourism. Worldwide, the direct contribution of travel and tourism to gross domestic product was $7.7 trillion in 2022, a remarkable 7.6 percent of total global GDP.

Still, the travel industry is not invulnerable. Disasters like COVID are one thing, attacking tourists for wanting to visit your country is quite another.

Barcelona, ​​​​a beautiful city with a history of hospitality, is in danger of becoming the punch line of the old Yogi Berra joke: “It’s so crowded that nobody goes there anymore.”