Moment enraged Spanish locals surround tourists and scream ‘get out’ after the cycling holidaymakers strayed into pedestrianised street

This is the tense moment when Spanish locals surrounded tourists and shouted at them to “get out” after cycling holidaymakers turned into a pedestrianized street.

Two groups appeared to have come very close to a fight in a narrow street in Valencia’s beautiful Old Town.

In the footage, Spaniards can be heard shouting ‘Go Home’ and foreigners, said to be Dutch, shouting ‘Fuck you’.

The incident took place on the street called Calle Danzas, where neighborhood association members gathered on Sunday.

One of the female cyclists looked on the verge of tears as she watched from a safe distance.

The distraught tourist was later filmed screaming when another cyclist’s bike crashed during a chaotic round of scuffles.

After the tension decreased, the Spaniards were heard shouting ‘Fuera, fuera’ (‘Get out, get out, leave’) and the tourists walked away on foot.

One of the holidaymakers turned around, raised his fist in the air and shouted ‘fuck you’; It was also the voice of one of his friends.

In response, one of the locals provocatively lifted her top and tapped her hand on her hip to mock them.

A group of tourists walk away after a tense confrontation with Spanish locals nearly turns into a fight

In the clip, a female tourist is seen bursting into tears and urging her group to stop the heated argument.

A crowd gathered in a narrow street as locals and holidaymakers insulted each other

A Valencia-based association, whose name means ‘Neighborhood in Danger of Extinction’ in English, claimed that the incident occurred overnight because cyclists wanted to pass through the area where they were holding an event.

They allegedly refused to land or slow down. The association admitted shouting ‘Go Tourist Home’ but accused Dutch holidaymakers of resorting to violence.

Launching a new attack on mass tourism, a spokesman added: ‘Residents of Valencia, and especially the Old Town, are anxious and helpless in the face of tourism and speculation that is saturating neighborhoods and driving people away from their homes.

‘Major real estate investment funds and tour operators have become masters of the city and governments are doing nothing to prevent this or protect their residents.’

The group claimed the following: ‘There were tense moments due to the stubbornness of the tourists who wanted to pass through the street where our event was held without getting off their bikes and without slowing down their speed.

‘In the face of this intransigence, the neighborhood began shouting ‘Tourists Go Home’ and upon hearing this, the group of tourists became aggressive and violent.’

The statement noted: ‘Beyond this incident, the real violence that exists in the Old Town and many other neighborhoods of Valencia is the expulsion from the neighborhood through violent evictions by the police and parapolice, the daily saturation of public spaces, the inability to rest at home due to noise on the street or in tourist apartments, the commercialization of neighborhoods and the rise of prices, and the persecution of racial and defenseless people, etc.

‘For all these reasons, as a neighborhood, we condemn the attempt to criminalize the neighborhood and housing struggle that emerged after Sunday’s incident.

‘The least tourists can do is respect the protests and be aware of how leisure activities can have detrimental effects on our lives. Since this did not happen, they shouted loudly, ‘Tourists, go home!’ we say.

In a statement, a housing association claimed that the incident occurred because cyclists wanted to pass through the area where they were holding an event.

As the situation eased, locals and tourists started shouting slogans mocking each other.

An English-speaking former resident described the incident as ‘unfortunate’. He wrote online: ‘I loved the city when I was there. No one has ever treated me like this.

‘My dream was to return to university and get a master’s degree and at the same time continue to improve my Spanish.

‘I just wanted to live simply and with respect for other people. But if things are like this, I don’t know what to think anymore.’ One of the locals replied: ‘Fortunately, the majority of Valencians are not like that.’

Another former resident added: ‘I can’t believe this is happening in Valencia. What a disappointment the city I lived in was. I’m back this year and let me tell you all, this is the most amazing city I’ve ever known.

‘Are we going to give up our egos? This creates a terrible image for the Valencians.’

Spanish radio founder Manel Marquez, who describes himself as an ‘anti-capitalist and ecologist’ online, said: ‘Tourists, especially the Dutch, do not respect pedestrians in Valencia. This isn’t Rotterdam and you can’t go anywhere you want by bike.

‘Dutch tour operators should explain this to them. If you don’t understand, don’t come.’

There have been dozens of protests against the effects of mass tourism in Spain over the past few years.

Graffiti in English left on walls and benches in and around Palm Mar in South Tenerife in early April last year included ‘My misery is your paradise’ and ‘Average salary in the Canary Islands is 1,200 euros’.

The response left in English next to the message ‘Tourists go home’ read: ‘Fuck you, we’re paying your wages.’

Around the same time, thousands of people in the Canary Islands took to the streets to demand that politicians address problems such as a lack of affordable housing and pollution, which locals attribute to the growing influx of holidaymakers.

Authorities in Tenerife said around 30,000 people attended, while organizers claimed the figure was closer to 80,000.

Last October, demonstrators stormed a Tenerife beach and surrounded holidaymakers in their swimsuits during another mass anti-tourism protest.

The incident occurred after hundreds of protesters deviated from the planned coastal route in Playa de las Americas in the south of the island and took over Troy Beach.

Earlier this year thousands of people took to the streets across Spain to demonstrate against mass tourism

While some of the protests were peaceful, there were also incidents where tourists were sprayed with pressurized water and intimidated.

Tourists have been targeted with water cannons during street demonstrations in places such as Barcelona.

On June 15, thousands of people took to the streets of Majorca’s capital, Palma, hours after activists armed with water guns targeted holidaymakers in the Catalan capital in a day of coordinated action across southern Europe.

Street demonstrations were held in Granada in southern Spain and San Sebastian, the Basque city of Italy.

The protest in Palma came a day after a sightseeing bus was stopped by organizers of Menys Turisme Mes Vida, which means Less Tourism More Life in English.

About 100 rowdy drum-beating activists surrounded Cappuccino Borne, an upscale restaurant next to a McDonald’s in central Palma, after their protest ended.

Police took action to reduce tension as demonstrators held up cardboard posters saying “As You Come, I Have to Go, Too.”

Protesters also chanted ‘No Balconing’, a reference to young tourists traditionally accused by islanders of the dangerous practice of jumping from Magaluf hotel balconies into swimming pools.

Balearic Islands Government deputy president Antoni Costa later said their behavior was ‘unacceptable’. Government officials said 8,000 people took part in the Majorca street march, but organizers put the number at 30,000.

Meanwhile, businesses in popular holiday destinations blamed the protest for a drop in revenue. Restaurants, bars and beach workers claimed that the protests affected their sales by scaring away tourists.