Barcelona protesters throw items and spray travelers with water while shouting ‘tourists go home’

Mass tourism troubles hit fever pitch in Barcelona, Spain, on Saturday as protesters threw items and sprayed travelers with water guns and canned drinks, while shouting "tourists go home."

The protesters — angry about the city's long-standing problems with overtourism — used thick police-style tape to block hotel entrances and sidewalk cafes in the small neighborhood of Barceloneta in a symbolic effort to close the establishments.

The crowd, which numbered some 3,000 people, according to local media, also marched holding a large banner demanding that city officials "decrease tourists now."

Videos and photographs show people attempting to avoid the crowds — some walking away from their tables mid-meal — while others, including restaurant staff, verbally sparred with anti-tourism activists.

The demonstration coincides with Barcelona's peak summer travel months. In 2023, hotel occupancy rates neared 80% in July and August, as the city of 1.6 million people swelled to accommodate more than 4 million visitors, according to the Barcelona City Council.

Last year, Spain bounced back from the pandemic with a record-breaking 85 million foreign visitor arrivals, according to The Associated Press. Only France, with 100 million arrivals, welcomed more.

But the delicate dance between locals and visitors had spiraled long before that.

Hotels in the city quadrupled from 1990 to 2023 to accommodate a rush of travelers, which surged from 1.7 million to 7.8 million during the same period, according to the Barcelona City Council. That doesn't include the millions who travel to the city's outskirts, too, it notes.  

The city also buckles under the weight of the Barcelona Cruise Port as day-trippers descend on the city by the thousands. The port