Some 45% of Spaniards believe that central government should implement visitor quotas to control the flow of tourists in cities and 70% believe that stricter limits should be applied to tourist activities in protected areas, such as natural parks, according to a recent Evaneos survey. Respondents living in regions most affected by over-tourism go further with 50% believing that their local council should ban the construction of new tourist accommodation in already saturated areas.
Four out of ten inhabitants of Spanish holiday resorts believe there are “too many” tourist flats in the centre of their locality and they blame them for having displaced the local residents. In addition, half of Spaniards are in favour of tourists paying more taxes to compensate for the negative impact of their visit. Despite the negative consequences of overtourism, according to the survey responses, people consider that most travellers try to integrate into the community and that coexistence with them is generally good (67%).
They also value the benefits of more sustainable tourism, which is culturally and economically enriching (74%). On the other hand, the survey reveals that 80% of Spaniards say that we should reflect on the model of tourism we want and 60.2% are already aware of alternatives to mass tourism such as sustainable or regenerative tourism.
“Coexistence with tourists continues to be optimal and we are not in a scenario in which we can speak of tourism-phobia, but we need to make a change of model that preserves the customs of neighbourhoods and villages and guarantees the survival of the environment”, explained Viola Migliori, head of Southern Europe for Evaneos. For Evaneos, overtourism not only has a negative impact on the communities that host visitors, but also on the experience of Spanish travellers.
82% of Spaniards confess to having encountered overcrowded holiday destinations, with crowds (84%), and long queues to visit monuments or museums (79.9%). In addition, 7 out of 10 found the gastronomic offer to be “expensive or of low quality”. As a result, the survey suggests that 90% of Spaniards notice that there are more and more visitors to holiday destinations and are therefore already exploring other options away from the crowds, such as changing travel dates outside the high season or visiting places closer to home or for longer.