The unusual protests in the Canary Islands against overcrowding have exposed the elephant in the room like never before: the unstoppable tourist boom that Spain is experiencing, breaking record after record of visitors month after month, is getting out of hand in many places and the collective cost It’s starting to become unacceptable.
The diagnosis does not come only from affected local communities, which see their quality of life decline while receiving tourists in droves. Among the business sector, voices are increasing that admit for the first time the need to urgently control activity if we want to stop the social protest in the most saturated destinations, such as the two archipelagos or large areas of the Mediterranean coast. The time has come, some say, to put limits on growth in volume.
This change in discourse has been making its way for some time, but the recent demonstrations on the islands have been a turning point due to their forcefulness and possible contagion effect. “We are very concerned,” they acknowledge from large companies in the industry.
That tourism is and will continue to be a fundamental part of the Spanish economy is beyond doubt. The issue – businessmen and economists consulted agree – lies in ensuring that its benefits benefit society to a greater extent and do not remain only in the companies’ income statements. Also in legislating and improving its management to mitigate the harmful effects on housing prices, security or public services.
“Continuing to measure the success of Spanish tourism based on influx is irresponsible,” states José Luis Zoreda, executive vice president of Exceltur, the association that brings together 30 of the largest companies in the tourism sector in the country. The entity has promoted an internal reflection to respond to citizen rejection, aware that some of the most sought-after destinations are on the verge of losing their attractiveness and at the risk of local disaffection becoming a major political problem. The conclusion: it is urgent to reevaluate what type of tourism Spain wants and advance public-private governance adapted to the circumstances of each place. “A new development model is necessary that has the complicity of residents; Where the limits are exceeded, decisions must be made,” says Zoreda.
The truth is that, after the paralysis of the pandemic, the arrival of foreign visitors to Spain has grown at a historic rate. Never before have so many travelers come in the first quarter of the year: 16.1 million between last January and March. For the whole of 2024, the Ministry of Industry and Tourism estimates that there will be close to 100 million foreign tourists, fifteen more than a year before. Most of these, in addition, go to the same places as always, so destinations that were already saturated are overwhelmed.
The unprecedented programming that airlines have prepared for the summer season in Spain, with 240 million seats between April and October – the majority of visitors arrive by air – and the pace of reservations from travel agencies and hotels support these forecasts. .
Companies put resources where there is demand and Spain stands out as a star destination. The country is being revalued as a safe place in the eastern Mediterranean – conflict in Gaza – and even cheaper than other European competitors such as Italy or France despite the rise in prices in the last two years. The economic consequences are evident. Large international groups with a good part of their business in the Spanish market, such as Ryanair, or national companies have seen their income and profits skyrocket. Hotel investors have also set their sights on the Peninsula, so that Spain has for the first time surpassed the United Kingdom as an object of desire to buy establishments given the profitability of the business, according to data from the consulting firm CBRE.
In parallel, the weight of tourism in the economy is increasing. The sector explains around half of the total growth of the Spanish economy in 2023, according to the latest report from the Bank of Spain, which contrasts with the sluggishness of the industrial branches. By 2024, tourism GDP will continue to advance, highlights David César Heymann, economist at CaixaBank Research. After increasing by 7.6% in 2023, the entity expects it to increase by 4% this year driven by the growth of gross disposable income in countries that send international tourists, geopolitical stability in Spain, particularly in relation to competing destinations in the eastern Mediterranean, and due to the weakness of the euro against the dollar.
“This strength is notable, given that international tourism in 2023 already exceeded the level of arrivals of 2019; We predict that in 2024 the tourism GDP will represent 12.9% of the Spanish economy,” continues Heymann. Exceltur, for its part, increases its participation to 13.3%. The hospitality industry is also behind half of the 200,000 affiliates that Social Security gained in April.
Tourism is, therefore, a fabulous activity to grow quickly. The problem, observes Joan Ribas, economist and professor at the ESCI-UPF, is that in the long run “it stagnates in very intensive labor but with low qualifications and wages.” This influences the Canary Islands to continue as one of the communities with the lowest per capita income –22,303 euros compared to the 28,162 euros national average in 2022, according to the INE– despite the intensity of the business or the fact that the income of families in Spain is barely 1% above 2007 when in the OECD as a whole it has advanced 16%. “The tourist hypertrophy of the Spanish economy is difficult to correct, so, at the very least, it should be controlled,” adds UAB professor Josep Oliver, who is in favor of increasing its tax burden.
For now, attempts to contain the influx in the most problematic places have had very modest results. “Tax treatment has been made with limited or innocuous effects, such as the tourist tax in some places; It is not a significant barrier and clients assume it, although it can compensate for some externalities,” assesses UB economist Enric Llarch.
Catalonia and the Balearic Islands are the only autonomous regions that charge a tourist tax and, although the sector opposed the introduction tooth and nail at the time, neither of them has lost visitors as a result. On the contrary, they have more than ever and Catalonia has established itself as the community that receives the most international travelers. Limiting the influx in public spaces such as Parc Güell in Barcelona or Plaza España in Seville with the payment of an entrance fee are other experiences that have been put on the table to try to contain overcrowding. In the case of the site designed by Antoni Gaudí, the arrival of tourists is such that the City Council hid the neighborhood bus that connects with the park from the Google Maps itineraries. It was the way to respond to the complaints of neighbors, who see how public transport collapses with visitors.
But these measures are nothing more than patches, according to all those consulted. From Exceltur they point to the uncontrolled proliferation of tourist apartments as an essential part of overcrowding and the growing problems of coexistence with residents. Hence they demand that the Government finally put a stop to them. “We also ask for a national reflection on the development of sustainable tourism,” Zoreda emphasizes. The involvement of the Ministry of Industry and Tourism, in the hands of Jordi Hereu, is considered essential so that this wave of travelers that Spain is experiencing does not escape control.
