There was a time when “tourist” was practically a term of endearment. Locals would wave from balconies, restaurant owners would seat you at the best table, and travel felt like a mutual exchange of goodwill. That era is shifting fast – and in some places, it has already ended. From water guns in Barcelona to graffiti reading “get out” in Mexico City, something has fundamentally changed in the global relationship between travelers and the communities that host them.
Climbing visitor numbers, spurred by post-pandemic “revenge travel,” resulted in record-high tourist totals in almost every major hotspot. Suffice it to say that tourism has not just rebounded – it has outstripped pre-pandemic figures. What follows is a gallery of eight destinations where that rebound has come at a painful cost for local residents, and where tourists now find themselves, increasingly, feeling less than welcome.
Barcelona, Spain: Water Guns, Protests, and a City That Has Had Enough
In July 2024, thousands marched down Barcelona’s La Rambla carrying signs reading “Tourism kills the city” and “Tourists go home, you are not welcome,” with some demonstrators using water pistols. It was a striking image, almost absurd on the surface. Yet it reflected years of deep-seated anger that had nowhere else to go.
While the backlash against mass tourism has been seen in multiple communities around the world, it is Spain that has captured the most media attention. This is largely due to it being a tourism powerhouse, attracting 94 million visitors in 2024, according to Reuters. That is an almost incomprehensible number of people flowing through a single country’s streets, restaurants, and neighborhoods.
Local governments and residents believe that, rather than sustaining the locations, the overtourism has contributed to a reduced quality of life and increased cost of living for residents. The BBC reported that while overtourism has concerned residents of the most-visited locations for a while, in 2024 “it feels like something has changed. The anger among many locals is reaching a new level.”
In June 2024, Mayor Jaume Collboni said that he would end short-term rentals in Barcelona by 2028, aiming to reduce the impact on the housing market of landlords renting properties at inflated rates intended for tourists. Honestly, when a city starts pulling its own tourism licenses, the message could not be clearer.
The Canary Islands, Spain: Between a Rock and a Collapsing Paradise
In April 2024, mass protests began in the Canary Islands, with residents calling for a temporary limit on tourism until legislation to combat the negative effects of overtourism could be introduced. Between 20,000 and 50,000 people across the islands took part in coordinated protests against excess tourism. The protests were backed by environmental organisations including Greenpeace and the WWF. Those are not fringe numbers – that is a genuine mass movement.
For the Canary Islands, 35 percent of overall GDP and 40 percent of jobs in 2022 came directly from tourism and its related businesses, which contributed over 16.9 billion euros in revenue that year. Here is the uncomfortable irony: the very industry that keeps the lights on is also the one threatening to destroy what people love about these islands.
By 2024, about 1,000 residents of Mallorca lived in their vehicles, as did an unspecified number of Ibiza residents. Let that sink in for a moment. An island where tourists sip cocktails by the pool while locals sleep in cars. In the Canary Islands in 2023, a third of residents were at risk of poverty.
A spokesperson for the coordination effort said that the balance of tourism and welfare had become chronically unsustainable, especially in the year before the protests. Eleven members of a protest group went on hunger strike over large luxury accommodation developments on Tenerife. The group said they were not against tourism, but against a model of tourism that allows unsustainable growth.
Venice, Italy: Europe’s Most Famous Victim of Its Own Fame
Around 250,000 people live in Venice, yet the Italian city accommodates 20 million tourists per year. Think about that ratio. For every local resident, there are roughly 80 tourists a year walking through those ancient streets. It’s less like a living city and more like a theme park with residents still somehow trying to exist inside it.
In April 2024, Venice introduced a €5 fee for day-trippers, with protest groups marching through the narrow streets holding banners like “Welcome to Veniceland” and “No to the ticket.” Even the solution was controversial. Venice has expanded its controversial entry fee program from 29 applicable days in 2024 to 54 days in 2025. Starting in 2024, tourists are required to pay a €5 fee to visit the city, with the price set to double to €10 in 2025 for those who book less than four days in advance.
In 2021, cruise ships were banned from docking in the city center after years of protests. The historic city has become a symbol of Europe’s overtourism problems, with locals increasingly frustrated by the impact on their daily lives. Venice is not just a travel cautionary tale – it has become a warning to every other destination watching from a distance.
In Venice, demonstrators demanded a ban on the usage of loudspeakers to reduce noise pollution and stricter regulations of activity in the Grand Canal, since large ships erode the foundations and cause pollution. These demands materialized, and the government implemented regulations to alleviate some of citizens’ concerns. Small victories, perhaps, in a very long battle.
Amsterdam, The Netherlands: A City Taking Its Own Government to Court
A recent survey shows that an overwhelming 82 percent of people living in Amsterdam believe that tourism continues to pose significant problems for the city’s residents. Although tourism delivers substantial economic benefits, many locals cite issues such as crowds, noise, litter, and other disruptions to normal life. That is not a slim majority. That is near-unanimous frustration.
Unlike many European cities struggling with overtourism, Amsterdam was one of the first to impose a cap on tourist overnight stays. However, enforcing this limit has proven much more difficult than anticipated, and locals say they have had enough. For the third year in a row, the 20-million mark has been exceeded.
On September 22, 2025, residents backed by 12 neighborhood groups filed their complaint, saying the city failed to act decisively despite surpassing the cap in 2022, 2023, and 2024. Organizers cite a 3 percent rise to 22.9 million overnight stays in 2024 and forecasts that 2025 will again exceed the limit. When residents take their own city to court over tourists, something has gone deeply wrong.
Known for its progressive approach, Amsterdam implemented one of Europe’s highest tourist taxes in 2024, charging 12.5 percent on accommodation costs. Additional measures include banning buses over 7.5 tons in the city center, increasing the cruise passenger tax to €14.50 per person, and halting approvals for new hotels and short-term rentals in key districts. The city is trying. Its residents are not convinced it is enough.
Santorini and Mykonos, Greece: Island Beauty Under Siege
Santorini, the jewel of the Cyclades, attracted over 2 million visitors in 2024. Residents have staged protests to “send cruise ships home,” while the Greek government has introduced €20-per-cruise-passenger fees, cruise docking limits, and sustainable tourism plans. A destination that attracts visitors with its postcard-perfect caldera views is now quietly pushing those same visitors toward the exit.
Santorini attracted over 2 million visitors in 2024, making it the busiest summer yet, with tourism revenues nationally rising by 16 percent in the first five months of 2024. The money is flowing – but it’s not always landing in the pockets of the people who actually live there year-round.
In Greece, residents in Athens and Paros have protested against overtourism, accusing tourists of displacing locals and diluting the city’s character on islands like Santorini and Mykonos. The charge of “diluting character” is interesting because it gets at something harder to measure than housing costs or pollution. It’s about identity. About whether a place still feels like home.
Greece is taking a multi-faceted approach to address overtourism and climate resilience. Notable initiatives for 2025 include a Climate Resilience Tax, with rates ranging from €1.50 for one-star hotels to €15 for five-star accommodations during peak season. Mykonos, which hosted 1.29 million cruise passengers in 2024, is extending its cruise season from February to December to distribute tourist numbers more evenly.
Lisbon, Portugal: The Hidden Gem That Got Found Too Fast
Portugal saw a 26 percent increase in arrivals in 2024, and its popularity shows no signs of waning, as the country continues to rank high on lists of best countries to visit. For a country that, not long ago, was considered Europe’s best-kept secret, that growth curve has been almost violent in its speed.
Lisbon has been part of a broader Southern Europe conversation about “touristification,” with protests highlighting housing and quality-of-life concerns. Reuters reported demonstrations across the region, including a planned action in Lisbon on June 15th, 2025, while The Guardian also covered coordinated protests and the themes behind them.
Much of the recent backlash from locals is because tourism is coming at the cost of a lower quality of life and spiking housing costs. With an uptick in the number of properties dedicated to hospitality, the market for rentals has shrunk, causing home prices to increase. Lisbon is a city where young Portuguese people increasingly cannot afford to live in their own capital.
Activists from cities like Venice, Lisbon, and Barcelona led a group called the Southern Europe Network Against Touristification. The fact that three iconic European cities now share a formal coalition against the very industry propping up their economies tells you everything you need to know about how serious this has become.
Japan: A Culture That Is Politely Screaming “Please Stop”
In 2024, the number of international visitors to Japan reached approximately 36.87 million, marking a record high and a 47.1 percent increase compared to the previous year. Japan’s tourism explosion has been staggering, driven by the weak yen and a global fascination with Japanese culture. Yet the welcome mat is wearing thin.
In May 2024, a temporary barrier was erected to block the view of a popular Mount Fuji photo spot, near a convenience store in the town of Fujikawaguchiko in Yamanashi prefecture. That image – a black curtain hiding one of the world’s most iconic views – became a global symbol of tourism gone wrong. Japanese officials introduced a mandatory ¥2,000 climbing fee in 2024 on Mount Fuji’s popular Yoshida Trail and capped daily access to 4,000 hikers to prevent unsafe “bullet climbs” and reduce waste.
As international tourism to Japan grows, approximately 73 percent of overnight stays are concentrated in just five prefectures. According to a survey examining congestion in residential and workplace areas, 59.7 percent of respondents reported that living in traditional neighborhoods has become unbearable for locals dealing with constant crowds seeking the perfect Instagram shot.
Koji Muramasa was elected as Kyoto’s new mayor after campaigning against overtourism, in a city with a resident population of about 1.5 million that saw more than 20 times that number – about 32 million – of tourists arriving last year. When a city elects a mayor specifically on an anti-tourism platform, there is no ambiguity about how residents feel. Kyoto has banned tourists from entering private alleys in the Geisha district due to overtourism protests from residents.
Mexico City, Mexico: From Digital Nomad Paradise to Protest Ground Zero
Since July 4, 2025, a series of protests against gentrification have taken place in Mexico City. The marches are a response to the gentrification of the city, particularly driven by foreigners who have flocked to the capital since the COVID-19 pandemic. The timing of the first protest – U.S. Independence Day – was not accidental.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the Mexican capital has seen dramatic growth in the number of “digital nomads” who have relocated to the city, lured by its vibrant culture, relaxed visa rules, and relative affordability. The issue is not purely tourism in the traditional sense. It’s a newer, stickier form of displacement – people who don’t just visit, they stay, and they price out the locals in the process.
What started as a peaceful protest through the streets of Mexico City on Friday against a surge in tourism and rent prices turned violent as a small group of people began smashing storefronts and harassing foreigners. Anti-gentrification activists say thousands of people in the Mexican capital have been forced out of their homes in recent years as tourists and remote workers, many of whom are believed to be American, take over popular neighborhoods like Roma and Condesa.
The number of Americans living in Mexico went up 70 percent between 2019 and 2022. That kind of demographic shift in just three years has consequences. Choice neighbourhoods like Roma and Condesa – lush central areas dotted with cafes and markets – have grown increasingly populated by foreign tourists and remote workers. For longtime residents, their own neighborhood has become unrecognizable, and unaffordable.
Bali, Indonesia: Sacred Island, Exhausted Locals
On Bali, the once-idyllic island saw approximately 6 million international visitors in 2024, sparking heavy backlash. Locals and grassroots activists are protesting the disappearance of sacred paddy fields, illegal construction of resorts, and untreated plastic pollution on beaches. Bali’s crisis is not just cultural – it is environmental and spiritual in equal measure.
The government has responded with a $10 visitor levy, expanded eco-tourism initiatives, and bans on single-use plastics and tourist motorbike rentals. The official Love Bali platform supports payment of the Bali Foreign Tourist Levy, and the levy’s launch date is widely cited as February 14th, 2024. When a destination adds a required payment and starts checking compliance, some travelers experience it as a less carefree welcome.
Authorities have also banned tourist activities on all 22 of Bali’s sacred mountains, which have been subjected to inappropriate behavior and environmental damage, with the government issuing fines and deportations for tourists who violate local customs and norms. This is not mild discouragement – deportation is about as clear a signal as a destination can send.
The tourist tax scheme raised 2.4 million euros from nearly half a million visitors in 2024, with funds going directly toward environmental restoration and cultural preservation. There is hope buried in that number. The money is being used well. The question is whether it is nearly enough, and whether the cultural erosion can actually be reversed once it has already taken hold.
Machu Picchu, Peru: Ancient Wonder, Modern Crisis
Machu Picchu is managed through strict ticketing and timed circuits, and that structure shapes how welcome you can feel. The official Machu Picchu site states that online sales run through a Peruvian state platform, and it also describes an in-person allotment of 1,000 tickets sold daily through the Ministry of Culture’s local office. A site of ancient wonder has been reduced, in practice, to a bureaucratic booking exercise.
In early 2024, AP reported that protests erupted over a ticketing contract, and the government ultimately rescinded the deal, showing how sensitive access rules are for local livelihoods. The people who live in the shadow of one of the world’s greatest archaeological sites are not passive bystanders. They are fighting for their economic survival, their cultural ownership, and their right to determine who benefits.
In 2024, with travel rebounding globally, overtourism hit harder than ever. Famous destinations like Venice, Bali, and Barcelona were already grappling with overcrowding, and the effects were noticeable: from environmental damage to overwhelmed local services and the displacement of residents. Not only do natural landscapes and historic sites suffer, but local communities often pay the price too, with rising costs of living and disruptions to everyday life.
The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) predicts that the number of worldwide tourists, which peaked at 1.5 billion in 2019, will reach 1.8 billion by 2030 – likely leading to increased pressure on highly desirable travel spots. Machu Picchu, already straining under current numbers, faces a future where that pressure only intensifies. I think it’s hard to say for sure how much of the site will survive the next decade of mass tourism without radical intervention.
The story running through all eight of these destinations is the same one, told in different languages, climates, and cultural contexts. Tourism, when it becomes too massive and too unregulated, stops being a bridge between people and becomes a bulldozer. The locals aren’t really angry at individual travelers – they’re furious at systems that allowed their cities, islands, and neighborhoods to be consumed without consent. This trend toward intentional travel reflects a broader industry pivot – one that looks to balance tourism’s economic benefits with the urgent need to protect iconic sites at risk of being permanently damaged by overtourism. The message is clear: the golden age of unrestricted travel is ending, and future visitors will need to adapt to a new reality of limited access, higher costs, and greater responsibility. The question worth sitting with is this: as a traveler, are you part of the problem – or are you willing to be part of a different kind of solution? What do you think? Share your perspective in the comments.