Is anybody avoiding booking holidays to Spain due to the demonstrations?

No it isn’t 😊

@MummyJ12 Lanzarote isn't on that list is it? 😱

There’s an article in the Telegraph about it today. It mainly seems to be, Mallorca/Majorca, Ibiza, Tenerife and Barcelona. It’s behind a paywall so I can’t link but I’ve screenshot a couple of pages. Maybe if you avoid these places, you’ll be ok.

We’ve just come back from Mallorca and it was very apparent. Many locals in the shops etc were quite rude and reluctant to serve us. We won’t be going back. We will respect that they don’t want us and go somewhere else for future holidays. However, it’s particularly bad there at the moment.

I suspect it’s all about where and how you’re holidaying in Spain. The cities and Islands are protesting about over-tourism and lack of housing due to holiday lets. Madrid tends to be quieter this time of year because residents have travelled out of the city for their summer holiday. If you’re staying in a hotel then you’re contributing to the economy in a more sustainable way. Valencia and the Valencian region is on the coast so will be busier, but equally will be full of Spanish holiday makers as much Brits and other European nationals. Again staying in a hotel in Valencia is a better way rather than airbnb type accommodation.

There’s another twist to it, in that some regions are pretty much built on tourism (domestic as much as European) and ex-pat full time residents - we own a place on the Costa Blanca south of Alicante. No protests there, the area would flounder without the ex-pats and tourism and most apartments, houses etc were built as holiday homes. Plenty of things to do and see in that region, maybe try there guilt free 😊

Im a Spanish resident and have seen my city suffer due to mismanagement of the tourism boom but we don’t blame the tourists themselves. It’s a discussion we have a lot among friends and the general consensus is that we are all also tourists whenever we travel anywhere else and we love traveling!

I didn’t actually know about these demonstrations though and haven’t seen anything so I’d probably still go.

Been to Spain a few times on work business and don’t get the fascination. So many other amazing places to visit. They want to make their bed - let them lay in kt

I’m in Northern Spain right now and having a wonderful time - everyone very welcoming and nice.

The main thing as a tourist is to visit mindfully. It is someone's home, not just a destination that exists for your pleasure.

Try and think about your impact on a place and engage respectfully.

We recently went to Beziers, a small French city on the Med near the Spanish border.

We stayed in a local hotel, ate out at least twice a day and visited local attractions and events. We also made the effort to speak French.

The locals were friendly and welcoming, eager to tell us about the best places to visit and eat. However we were very much in the minority. We rarely heard English voices in the week we were there - we met one American couple who were stopping off during a boating holiday on the nearby canal and a couple of Scottish lads who had visited the area for the rugby the previous year and had returned to see more as tourists (that area of France is mad for rugby).

I think there are two related but slightly separate issues here for Spain.

The first is the massive crowds of people in places like Barcelona. It is simply swamped with large groups of tourisrs, often driven by cruise ships. Airbnb is also exacerbating an existing housing crisis.

The issue in places like the Canaries and the Costas seems more to be with the fact locals are becoming fed up with these parts of Spain being seen as a cheap and cheerful holiday destinations attracting large groups of often badly behaved tourists who do not contribute much to the wider economy. And even of they are not badly behaved, large groups of people all in one small place can get overwhelming. The traditional package beach holiday model can overwhelm the host destination.

I was in Valencia and 200m from hotel was an Aldi. Completely different to ones in the UK.

One thing you can buy single bottles and cans of all beers. For example, you could buy a case of 15 beers or 1 single beer from the case. Plus it was the same for 250ml cans of tonic water. This model applies to majority of Aldi and probably Lidl across Europe. As some people live in bedsits/pokey flats and no room for a case of beer.

We stayed in an all inclusive hotel in Spain in May.
I disagree there is no benefit of these hotels.
They accommodate hundreds/thousands of visitors without taking any homes out of circulation.

The hotel would have employed hundreds in bars/restaurants/ housekeeping/ maintenance/ grounds/ entertainment/ reception/ office/ management.

The pools (and so the water) are shared by hundreds in a day not one family like a villa. There is little strain on local roads/beaches etc as a coach drops off at resort and picks up and yes people mostly stay on resort.

Others that prefer to stay in local hotel/bed and breakfast and eat in local restaurants,/ drink in local bars can still do that - it's not either/or.

If housing is strained for local people by tourists it is up to the countries Government to ban short term lets or to limit them by requiring them to have planning permission to operate. Same in this country.

If there are too many visitors overall to a country perhaps they will have to look at limiting/charging for visas to visit. The world is always changing and the laws/processes need to change in response.

We visited an area of Spain that is probably 99% Spanish tourists and we had no problem in the local supermarket. In two restaurants waiters thought I was Swedish (I do have Scandinavian heritage) so I don’t know if that makes a difference (probably not) and my DH has been asked if he is Spanish, Greek, Italian over the course of knowing him so I don’t know if people just thought he was Spanish but the big give away was us speaking in English in the supermarkets to each other, still didn’t get any disdainful looks. On the way back from the Spanish supermarket we got chatting to an old lady using the Spanish we knew. So my experience was positive.

I wouldn’t let it put me off. I have never had bad experience with Spanish supermarkets. Learn a few cursory words - please, thank you, hello, bag.. and you should be fine.

That's exactly what i am worried about. We want to go to the main supermarket where the locals shop, it is supposed to be a good one. I'm scared to go, and feel like we'll have to go Lidl with the rest of the brit tourists like us! On holiday I like to go to places I can't go to at home.

My sister thinks I'm being ridiculous, I probably am! Dh is on the fence with it.

We were in Ibiza last month, no issues, all locals very friendly, airport was SO much friendlier and less stressful than UK ones!

We recently returned from Spain having visited Barcelona and Bilbao, and were made to feel very welcome in both cities (although we missed the Barcelona protests by days!). Bilbao was interesting as we were asked where we were from at every museum, attraction etc. - as if they were conducting some kind of city-wide survey to get a breakdown of source countries for tourism. We even enjoyed watching Spain's progress in the Euros with the locals in the hotel foyers - thankfully we were home in time for the finals... 😂

Went to Spain last year.
Barcelona.
No issues at airport or in the complex we stayed at, staff were absolutely lovely. So were the people working in the restaurants, tourist shops etc

BUT when in the supermarkets and 'normal' shops where the Spanish public were they were very rude and dismissive of us.

It's not black and white. I don't like staying in hotels with just a bedroom and no cooking facilities so I tend to book apartments (not with AirBNB).

Barcelona is my favourite place but I won't be going back there until all of this has blown over. We will also give Athens and the Greek Islands a swerve too.

However I think that the protesters are targeting the wrong people. Tourists come if there are facilities for them.

The authorities need to have licenses for a fixed number of short term rentals. All other rentals should have a minimum 6-12 month lease. It will increase the cost of a holiday let but can't be avoided.

Very true. If people refused to stay, there would be no income at all. Hopefully it is helping the owner to make an income, maintain the property pay taxes, go out to work etc. The law sounds absolutely appalling, I don't understand why this is going on!

Another reason I think Spanish anger towards tourists is misplaced. The law is awful, the burocracy is obscene, the squatting scene is rife, there is short supply of properties which are held to ransom by legislature. And yet, nobody is talking about it. Tourism is a low hanging fruit.

I was there. The protesters had water pistols they were not attacking tourists. They were in an easily avoidable area. If tourists decided to go and eat in the middle of a planned demonstration then what can i say.....

Ps it was water not a sawn off shot gun

No more protests are planned

Oh I didn't think of it that way. If this is the case, it could be a good source of income. I do know the home has been an air bnb for a number of years though. The abundance of derelict homes is so very sad.

I live in Spain

They are planned protests. For example 1 in Barcelona last month with no more planned.
I was next to the protest watching it. It was in n easilg avoidable spot Then I read it in the English press. It was nothing like how it was portrayed

Dont worry about it