Category Archives: Overtourism

EU executive to propose short-term rental rules to tackle ‘social crisis’ in housing

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Bloc’s first affordable housing plan to cover issues such as tenants’ rights, property speculation and tourist lets

The EU executive will propose rules to tackle the “huge problem” of short-term rentals via platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com, as it seeks to confront the “social crisis” of people struggling to afford a home, its first-ever housing commissioner has said.

In an interview with the Guardian and other European newspapers, Dan Jørgensen said it was time for Brussels policymakers to take housing seriously or cede ground to anti-EU populists, who, he said, did not have the answers to the shortage of affordable homes.

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Relief for campaigners as five-star hotel on Milos’s famous ‘moon beach’ halted

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Authorities revoke building licence for cascading hotel complex on one of Greece’s most photographed shorelines

Environmental campaigners have welcomed a decision to halt construction of a disputed five-star hotel on a Greek beach known for its outstanding natural beauty.

Local authorities on the Cycladic island of Milos said a building licence for the resort on the world-renowned “moon beach” had been revoked by the municipality’s planning department after falling short of inspection standards.

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Jeff Bezos alters Venice wedding plans after threat of inflatable crocodiles

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Amazon founder reportedly forced to change venue for his wedding celebrations in Italian city

Campaigners in Venice have claimed victory after Jeff Bezos was reportedly forced to change the venue for his wedding celebrations in the city as his guests started arriving on Tuesday for the three-day jamboree.

The main reception for the wedding of Bezos and Lauren Sánchez, a former TV journalist, was due to be held in the Scuola Grande della Misericordia, a majestic 16th-century building in the city centre.

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Campaigners mount coordinated protests across Europe against ‘touristification’

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Protesters take to streets in a dozen cities to march against an industry they say is wrecking communities

Campaigners in at least a dozen tourist hotspots across southern Europe have taken to the streets to protest against “touristification”.

It is the most widespread joint action to date against what they see as the steady reshaping of their cities to meet the needs of tourists rather than people who live and work there.

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‘Venice is worn out’: locals see Jeff Bezos wedding as symbol of city’s ills

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City leaders claim days-long event will bring in riches but opponents say it will not benefit ordinary Venetians

Marta Sottoriva, a teacher in Venice, has tirelessly campaigned for various causes in her cherished lagoon city, from railing against giant cruise ships to battling soaring rents. Now she is busy preparing banners, handing out flyers and shouting through megaphones in squares as she joins dozens of activists in whipping up resistance to the “umpteenth gigantic event” she says that risks turning the world heritage site – which has long suffered from the effects of excessive tourism – into a playground for the rich.

Sottoriva is referring to the star-studded nuptials between the billionaire Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, and Lauren Sánchez, a former TV journalist. The days-long shindig, expected to begin from 24 June, will be the biggest wedding held in Venice since George Clooney married Amal Alamuddin in 2014.

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Venice’s €5 tourist fee returns – and will double for last-minute day-trippers

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City authorities still hope the scheme, which made an unexpected €2.4m last year, will help tackle overtourism

Venice’s entrance fee will resume from Friday, with the main novelty this year being that last-minute day-trippers will pay double.

Last year, as part of an experiment aimed at dissuading day visitors during busy periods, Venice became the first major tourist city in the world to charge people to enter.

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Thousands of tourists flock to see Etna eruption, blocking rescue services

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Tourists blocking streets and indulging in ‘dangerous’ behaviour, say Sicilian officials

Thousands of tourists have flocked to Mount Etna to watch spectacular eruptions on the volcano, but some people are blocking streets and preventing rescue services from reaching those in need of assistance, the local authorities have said.

Sicily’s head of regional civil protection, Salvo Cocina, described the tourism of recent days at Etna as “wild” and “extremely dangerous”, warning that day-trippers drawn by the exceptional views had parked their cars along narrow streets, impeding rescue vehicles.

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Athens resists as investors swoop on the city’s ‘neighbourhood of the gods’

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The district of Plaka dates to neolithic times but a new wave of development is luring more tourists – and local people are fighting back

In a neoclassical building in Athens on the oldest street of one of the oldest neighbourhoods in the western world, residents gathered last week with much on the minds.

Items on the agenda included noise pollution, congestion and other modern afflictions, but there was one that was met with instant relief: Haris Doukas, the city’s mayor, had decided to set up a taskforce to save Plaka, the ancient quarter at the heart of the capital’s historic centre.

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K’gari at risk of being ‘destroyed’ by overtourism, world heritage advisory committee warns

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Exclusive: The new Queensland government reversed Labor’s decision to set limits on visitor numbers

K’gari’s world heritage advisory committee (KWHAC) has advised the Queensland government the island’s ecology risks being “destroyed” by “overtourism”, putting pressure on the LNP’s promise not to cap visitation to the island.

The recommendation was contained in the body’s world heritage strategic plan released on Friday and contradicts the policy adopted by the new government.

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‘A vicious circle’: how the roof blew off Spain’s housing crisis

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Rents spiral and neighbourhoods lose charm as cities report tourist flat boom and surge in housing speculation

Ciutat Vella, the old city of Barcelona, was once quirky and mysterious.

Now it has become a parody of itself, a place from which the local population has been exiled in the interests of tourism and maturing investments. Doorways have sprouted combination key safes, a telltale sign of an apartment given over to tourist lets. A 100-year-old apothecary and shirtmaker that stood on La Rambla for two centuries have been replaced by shops selling flamenco dolls and ceramic bulls.

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Greenland split over benefits of tourism as territory opens to the world

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Direct flights from the US to Nuuk expected to double next year but there are concerns about the expected influx

The capital’s new airport has been opened, two more are in the making, and expectations are high: the Americans are coming to Greenland.

On Thursday, the first ever international flight into Nuuk, the most populous settlement on the autonomous Danish territory, landed to cheers on the ground and in the cabin of Air Greenland flight GL781 where passengers were served miniature bottles of Nicolas Feuillatte champagne.

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Pompeii limits visitors to protect ancient city from overtourism

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Tickets to visit ruins buried by Mount Vesuvius, seen by 4 million this summer, to be capped at 20,000 a day

Pompeii plans to limit visitor numbers to 20,000 a day and introduce personalised tickets from next week in an effort to cope with overtourism and protect the world heritage site, officials said.

This summer, a record 4 million people visited the remains of the ancient Roman city, buried under ash and rock after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79.

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Spain logs record number of summer visitors amid overtourism protests

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Figure of 21.8 million international visitors to Spain is 7.3% rise on 2023, says national statistics institute

Spain logged a record 21.8 million international visitors this summer, official data has revealed, during a period when anti-tourism protests also took place across the country.

The figure is a 7.3% rise on 2023, the national statistics institute (INE) said.

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Harry’s Bar owner sues Venice city council over waves from speeding boats

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Arrigo Cipriani says waves from vessels that ignore speed limits on Giudecca canal are leaving diners with wet feet

The Harry’s Bar culinary empire is as synonymous with Venice as its canals, inventing the bellini cocktail and hosting noted guests including Orson Welles, Ernest Hemingway and Charlie Chaplin during its 93 years in business.

But the lapping of the city’s waters has proved too much for the owner, Arrigo Cipriani, who is suing the city’s council and port master’s office because the feet of his well-heeled customers keep getting soaked by waves from speeding boats.

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Norwegian outdoor tourism campaign shelved over environmental fears

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State-owned company halts initiative after warnings over opening up ‘right to roam’ laws to large numbers of visitors

A Norwegian tourism campaign aimed at promoting the country as a destination for outdoor activities has been suspended after warnings that opening up the country’s “right to roam” laws to mass tourism could lead to environmental destruction.

Allemannsretten – which gives Norwegians the legal right to camp, swim, ski and walk freely in nature, regardless of who the landowner is – provides the basis of friluftslivet (outdoor life), seen as foundational to the mountainous country’s culture.

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Seville council can cut off water supply to illegal tourist flats, court rules

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Six properties disconnected in past year but there are thought to be 5,000 unlawful apartments in Spanish city

A court in Seville in southern Spain has ruled that the city council is within its rights to cut off the water supply to illegal tourist apartments.

Over the past year the city has disconnected the supply to six illegal apartments. Three owners appealed but the judge, mindful of neighbours’ complaints about noise, accepted the council’s argument that the apartments were not the owners’ residences.

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Fish thieves not welcome: Galicians coin term for stereotypical Madrid tourist

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As madrileños head for the cooler Atlantic coast, those in the north have given them an unflattering nickname

Galicia and Spain’s other Atlantic regions are becoming increasingly popular holiday destinations for Spaniards, and people from Madrid in particular, as they turn their backs on overcrowded and overheated Mediterranean resorts in favour of the more temperate north.

But while welcoming the income from tourism, Galicians have also given a nickname to what they see as their notoriously haughty visitors from the Spanish capital: fodechinchos, which translates literally as “fish thieves”.

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