Furious locals in Milan, who have accused Airbnb of driving up rents and pricing out locals, have taken to vandalising key boxes as protests spread across Europe.
Their “This city is not a hotel” slogan has gained significant attention on social media, with their posts of stickers getting hundreds of likes.
The latest protest, by group Chiediamo Casa, or “We Ask for a House”, saw locals attach stickers reading “Less short lets, more houses for all”, to key safes, which allow tourists access to their rented accommodation, last weekend.
“Let’s limit tourist rentals, let’s protest those who want to expel us from the city with unsustainable rents for inaccessible houses,” the campaigners wrote in a call for action earlier this month.
“We want a city for all and the right to live in dignified housing,” their statement said.
Like elsewhere in Europe, the protesters are not against tourism itself: “We really wish tourists well but want them to stay in hotels,” campaigner Giacomo Negri told the Times.
He added that the key boxes symbolised short-term rentals, which had moved from residents renting out their spare rooms to companies running multiple apartments.
Florence was also affected by protests last weekend. In the city where nearly one-third of its flats are listed on Airbnb, protesters used stickers with the slogan “Let’s save Florence so we can live in it.”
The protests come just weeks after Italian anti-tourism protesters targeted key safes off holiday properties to deter visitors, who they say are pricing them out of local housing.
Activists, describing themselves as “Robin Hood”, pulled several safes from properties in Rome, thereby denying tourists access to their lets.
Letters, wearing Robin Hood felt hats, were attached to lampposts around the city, describing the vandalism as “the first” attack on “the rich.”
“If you are looking for the key safes and can’t find them, read this. We are rebelling,” a note read, according to local media.
“We have removed these key storage boxes to denounce the sell-out of the city to short-stay holidays which alienate locals and leave residents out on the streets.”
Elsewhere in the Mediterranean, there has also been a fierce backlash against tourists, most notably in Spain.
The appeal of rental companies like Airbnb, where landlords can make far more money by moving away from residents to letting out rooms or apartments to short-stay visitors and slack regulation of such accommodation has made it more difficult for locals to find affordable accommodation.
However, not all residents are for the protests. Some worry that keeping tourists away will affect their livelihoods or tarnish the city’s reputation.
For example, demonstrators clashed with riot police over the new tourist tax in Venice. Former mayor Massimo Cacciari said in a statement that visitors already paid “three times as much as residents” for public transport in the city. They all contribute to the longevity of Venice’s restaurants and museums.
Key boxes were also the victim of protests in Spain in July when tourists complained that their rentals had been smeared with dog poo in the popular city of Seville.
