Spanish politician calls for tourist limits, saying holidaymakers ‘are making it impossible to live in cities like Alicante and Valencia’
A Spanish politician has called for sweeping restrictions on tourism, warning that rising visitor numbers are making it ‘impossible to live’ in some of the country’s most popular coastal cities.
Alberto Ibáñez, a lawmaker from the left-wing Valencian coalition Compromís, said strict controls were now needed to rein in the industry as local people were increasingly excluded.
Speaking to Europa Press, he claimed that cities such as Alicante and Valencia have reached breaking point and that neighborhoods have been turned into “sets for tourists”.
Ibáñez formally asked the Spanish parliament to create a subcommittee to examine the impact of tourism on quality of life, arguing that this should address the growing ‘frustration’ felt by those living in hotspot destinations.
He warned that traditional businesses were disappearing in many areas as cities catered to more and more visitors.
Supporting what he described as the ‘shrinkage of tourism’, he said: ‘You close a bakery to open a locker or a bike rental shop, which causes all the damage.’
The politician also took aim at cruise tourism, claiming that on busy days the number of passengers arriving in Valencia could exceed the city’s own population.
He argued that such visitors contribute little to the local economy but place a burden on infrastructure and the environment.
During an anti-tourism demonstration in Barcelona, people are seen spraying tourists and buildings with water guns and pistols.
Tourists are seen walking past a banner saying ‘fewer tourists’ during an anti-tourism protest in Barcelona
A man walks down the street and passes a graffiti on the shutter of a closed shop in Barcelona that reads ‘Tourists are returning home’
‘These are people who come here and don’t know whether they are in Valencia, Seville or Barcelona,’ he said. ‘They buy the same souvenirs and spend no more than five euros on a beer.’
Ibáñez insisted that expanding ports to accommodate more cruise ships should be ignored, instead limiting arrivals.
He pointed to the multi-storey Benidorm resort as a warning of what could happen if tourism dominates the local economy.
‘We don’t need more tourists; “We can’t host it anymore,” he said. ‘We can continue to deny it until the day comes when there are no inhabitants left.’
Despite concerns about the economic hit, he insisted cities like Valencia were no longer solely dependent on tourism.
Instead, he called for a wider economic rethink to create jobs beyond the sector, arguing that ‘tourism is living off the city and destroying it’.
His comments come at a time of growing backlash against overtourism in Spain; protests and tighter restrictions were put in place in many major destinations.
