A summer of protests in Spain could lead to travel misery for millions of Brits according to a Spanish protest leader, who says the country is at ‘breaking point’

Millions of British holidaymakers could face major disruption this summer, a Spanish protest leader has told The Mirror. It is feared militant groups could block airports, beaches and other popular tourist spots as anti-tourist sentiment reaches fever pitch in Spain.

Speaking on condition of anonymity the protest leader, who we call Lucas, warned that protesters could take matters into their own hands if they are ignored any further. He said: “The general mood is one of growing frustration, indignation, and despair. People feel that they are being expelled from their own land and that their fundamental rights are not being protected. People have had enough.

“There is a widespread feeling that the situation has reached a breaking point and that it is necessary to act urgently and decisively to reverse it. The patience of the citizenry is running out. We are not going to stand idly by while we see our homes and our lives threatened by speculation and an uncontrolled tourism model.”

This weekend hundreds of thousands of Spaniards marched in 40 cities across the country to protest against soaring rents and a lack of affordable homes amid a housing crisis fuelled in part by a tourism boom meaning locals are getting priced out of where they live. Average Spanish rents have doubled and house prices have increased by over 44% in the past decade while the supply of residential rentals has halved since the 2020 pandemic.

At the same time short-term rentals have increased rapidly in major cities and coastal destinations squeezing out hardworking Spanish families. Protestors took to the streets in cities including Madrid, Barcelona and Palma, in demonstrations organised by housing activists and backed by the nation’s main labour unions.

In the capital Madrid more than 150,000 protesters marched through the capital’s centre, according to the local tenants’ union. Protestors chanted as they walked through the city while some held up signs against short-term rentals and raged: “Get Airbnb out of our neighbourhoods.”

In the Mallorcan capital Palma protestors waved placards featuring messages including “Mallorca is not for sale” and “no houses without people, nor people without houses”. Tourism is hugely important to Spain with 94m visitors last year, of which at least 17.5m were Brits making it the second most visited country in the world, behind France.

Local governments have already launched their own crackdowns on short-term rentals like in Barcelona where the officials have pledged to phase out its 10,000 permits for short-term lets, many of which are advertised on platforms such as Airbnb, by 2028. But despite actions like that Lucas explained the civil unrest must continue because nothing has changed since the protest movement roared into life last year.

He explained: “Unfortunately, the situation has not improved significantly since last summer. Housing prices, both for rent and sale, remain prohibitive for a large part of the local population.

“The reality is that the housing emergency persists and affects more and more families. “With each passing day, more lifelong residents are forced to leave their homes because they cannot compete with the prices inflated by a deregulated real estate market model. We are losing our ability to live in our own land.”

Anti-tourist rhetoric is growing in Spain and earlier this year a shocking sign threatening to ‘kill a tourist’ appeared in Tenerife. Footage of the graffiti being painted on the was posted online by a group called Islas de Resistencia, which describes itself as “a project to recover the memory of social movements in the Canary Islands.”

Spanish party isle Ibiza also saw the first signs of hostility in December when access to a popular viewing point was blocked with boulders. Thousands flocked to gaze at rocky Es Vedra at sunset but the site’s owners said they were sick of being invaded.

But in spite of that many organisations who are protesting the tough conditions in the housing market for locals in Spain are keen to emphasise they are not anti-tourist and are looking forward to welcoming tourists this summer.

One of them is Javier Barbero, 52, who is one of the leaders of the Banc de Temps collective in Mallorca. He told The Mirror: “In Mallorca, we have welcomed and will continue to welcome tourists to our land with great gratitude. Although it is true that we need a new tourism market model that is more sustainable for the environment and for the people of Mallorca.”

Protest leader Lucas also insists the protests are not anti-tourist and are instead about implementing a sustainable tourism model which affords locals a better quality of life. He said: “We believe in quality tourism that respects our environment, our culture, and our residents.

“However, what we can no longer tolerate is a model of mass tourism that has a devastating impact on access to housing and quality of life. We encourage tourists to visit us, but we also ask them to be aware of the situation and to support a more responsible and sustainable tourism model.”

Although he points out the protestors are going nowhere until they get what they want and will take direct action if needed saying: “It is very likely that the protests will increase in magnitude this summer if we do not see significant changes from the administrations. People’s frustration and despair are growing as the situation becomes unsustainable.”

And he warned that protests would not be confined to the streets saying: “We could see a diversification of the forms of protest this summer. In addition to traditional demonstrations, other creative and higher-impact actions may arise to raise awareness of the problem and put pressure on the authorities. People are increasingly aware and willing to explore different ways to make their voices heard.”