Residents in yet another Spanish city beloved by tourists are making their voices heard against issues linked to overtourism.
A platform called “Sevilla Se Muere” carried out a march in Seville’s city centre on April 10, which protested the existing tourism industry and the problems it creates for locals.
The platform, whose name in English means “Seville is dying”, hit out at the local city council, accused of not listening to the protesters who raised similar concerns on the “imposed city model” six months ago.
The platform said: “With the slogan of this call, Now is the Time, we want to denounce the city model that the city council and lobbies are imposing on us.
“For years, we have seen abuses that only benefit a few and condemn our neighbours. It is time for them to know that what they have been doing with Seville for years is not what we Sevillians want for our city.
“The city is bursting at the seams. We can’t take it any more. Let’s reverse this unsustainable situation before it is too late”.
The high number of bars and nightclubs in the city, as well as the decision to host an array of events in Seville, is beneficial only to a minority, while most residents only face drawbacks, the group claimed according to local news outlet Diario de Sevilla.
The platform claimed: “The people of Seville pay the costs of cleaning and repairs, while we suffer the noise and insecurity that they cause.”
Seville, the largest city in the southernmost region of Spain, Andalusia, welcomes three million tourists every year, while counting around 700,000 inhabitants.
The group claims that issues faced by locals that can be linked to the current tourism model include noise created by nightlife establishments built in residential areas, an “aggression” to historical and natural heritage to accommodate the needs of the tourism industry, deficient management of waste and cleanliness of public spaces as well as the financial impoverishment of locals.
Seville’s local government is seemingly taking steps to regulate tourism.
In February, Mayor of Seville José Luis Sanz announced plans to close the famous Plaza de España and charge tourists to finance its conservation and guarantee its safety.
The neo-Moorish square, which in the late 1990s became the set of a Star Wars film, experiences a daily footfall in the thousands and even sees horse-drawn carriages transporting tourists to the area.
This leaves its complex tiled floors, tower facades and bridges at risk of irreversible damage.
