Thousands of people in the Spanish city of Málaga protested against mass tourism on Saturday, angry about high rents and housing shortages.
They marched through the center of the southern city, many carrying signs reading: “Málaga is not for sale” and “This is not tourism, this is an invasion.”
According to the organizers, around 25,000 people took part in the demonstration, although the newspaper El País spoke of 15,000 attendees.
The city is the latest in Spain to host such protests, after similar demonstrations against tourism excesses were held in other popular holiday destinations including Mallorca, Barcelona and the Canary Islands.
The demonstration in Malaga was one of the largest the city has seen in recent times, several Spanish media reported.
The protest was called by a tenants’ association, Sindicato de Inquilinos e Inquilinas, which said the ever-increasing number of visitors and holiday apartments were the reason for the city’s housing shortage and other problems.
“The city is suffering, there is a lot of resentment. Above all, the housing problem had to be put on the table,” said the spokesperson for the organizers, Curro Machuca, according to El País.
Malaga has over 12,000 legally registered holiday homes, more than any other Spanish city apart from Madrid and Barcelona. Furthermore, many private holiday homes in Malaga and elsewhere are being exploited illegally.
“The situation is untenable. It is impossible to buy a house,” protester María Franco told El País.
Engineer Sonia Raya told the newspaper she recently viewed a windowless garage in Malaga, which was offered as an apartment for a monthly rent of €600 ($642).
