Overtourism in Europe: water cannon protests in Barcelona, bans in Budapest

By: Trademagazin Date: 2025. 04. 15. 10:44

Short-term rentals, hordes of tourists and overburdened infrastructure are straining the nerves of a growing number of European cities. The public is increasingly reluctant, and governments are introducing restrictive measures one after another – Pénzcentrum says.

Overtourism has become one of the most serious and rapidly escalating problems in Europe – especially in Mediterranean countries. Spain, where tourists flooding residential areas are already causing water shortages, a housing crisis and communal tensions, is currently the most affected area. In Barcelona, locals are demonstrating with water pistols.

The city that no longer belongs to the locals

The explosion of short-term rentals has transformed a mass of residential properties into tourist accommodation, while rents have skyrocketed. In the city centers, shops that meet basic needs are disappearing one by one, replaced by souvenir shops and restaurants – locals are being pushed out of their own communities.

All this is accompanied by water shortages and overuse of resources: in popular resort areas there is often not enough water to meet the combined needs of residents and tourists.

Protests, restrictions, tension

Across Europe, more and more cities are deciding to regulate short-term housing rentals. Madrid has suspended the licensing of new tourist apartments, while in Budapest, the 6th district has already banned short-term rentals – which was soon followed by government-level restrictions. However, according to real estate market experts, these measures will not significantly reduce rental prices in the long term, but will only bring short-term relief.

What do Europeans think about this?

A recent YouGov Eurotrack survey found that 49% of Spaniards feel that there are too many international tourists in their area, while 32% are particularly concerned about the number of them. This puts Spain at the top of the list of negative opinions, ahead of France (18%), Italy (16%) and the United Kingdom (7%). Catalans, who are directly feeling the strain on Barcelona, are particularly critical: 48% of them believe that there are too many tourists in the city.

The result of this anti-tourism sentiment is that 28% of Spaniards now have a negative view of foreign tourists, a much higher proportion than in France (16%), Germany (14%) or Italy (11%).