Spain has been abandoned by a lot of tourists, with restaurants and beaches seemingly almost empy. Parts of the country have been seeing a decline in visitor numbers for the first time since the pandemic, as well as years of anti-tourist protests by locals.
Pictures from Benidorm show a slew of empty chairs outside various bars and restaurants and rather quiet beaches in the last few days. This is especially rare for huge tourist destinations at this time of the year. Harry Poulton, 24, who moved to Benidorm after his first lads’ holiday at 18, has described the current scenes on the Costa Del Sol as “like a ghost town”. On TikTok, Harry said: “Benidorm is a ghost town…in July?! I’ve never seen it this quiet. Where is everyone?!”
He showed himself stood by the main strip and commented: “It’s the middle of July, look behind me, it’s dead. I’m on the Benidorm strip, there’s barely any people, this is crazy. I cannot believe it, this is the quietest I’ve ever seen Benidorm,” he added.
One person who is holidaying in Benidorm wrote in the comments: “Currently in Benners. Our first trip here and I was expecting carnage. It’s full of families.” “In Benny now, it’s packed with families instead of stags and hens,” commented one other.
In Costa Blanca, holiday rental usage dropped 2.2% during the first half of the year – according to local paper Sur, this number has now dropped to 57%. This tourism drop-off is thought to have been caused by rising prices, overtourism protests, and changing travel behaviour. Majorcan locals say some resorts are “completely dead”, with officials claiming that overtourism demonstrations are “scaring away visitors”.
The head of the nightlife association, Miguel Pérez-Marsá, told Majorca Daily Bulletin: “The tourists we’re interested in are being driven away; they don’t feel welcome and are going to other destinations.” The situation is reportedly so bad that staff who normally work through the summer season are being given holiday.
Tour guides are also feeling the pinch. Pedro Oliver, president of the College of Tour Guides, revealed excursion sales have dropped by 20% this summer.
“If you generate negative news, which has repercussions in other countries, tourists opt for other destinations when choosing their holidays,” he said. “We are sending the message that we don’t want tourists and that everything is too crowded.”
But not all are upset over the drop in tourism. One person said: “Very good news, let’s see if we stop depending on tourism and the business fabric returns to Spain.
“Tourism should be regulated somehow, and see if the real estate bubble explodes because of that, and people here can buy a house again like it used to be.”
Another wrote: “The news is painted as bad, but the reality is that it’s good. Tourism is fine, but the mass of tourists coming to Malaga was more than the city could handle. I’d rather take care of 10 tourists well than 100 badly.”
The rising cost of housing, up 68% in the past decade in Barcelona, is one of the movement’s main issues, along with the effects of tourism on local commerce and working conditions.