Barcelona residents protested over-tourism by symbolically blocking hotel entrances and sidewalk cafes with police tape and spraying travelers with water guns and drinks while shouting, "Tourists go home." The protest involved around 3,000 people and coincided with Barcelona's peak summer travel season, where hotel occupancy nears 80%. Barcelona has seen a huge increase in tourism in recent decades, putting pressure on housing availability and affordability. Short-term rentals like Airbnb have contributed to rising rents, with the city planning to ban them by 2028 to free up 10,000 apartments for long-term rentals.
