Image: Tourism // AdobeStock// Pablo Andrii Yalanskyi
Travelling nowadays is unprecedentedly accessible. The combination of low-cost Ryanair flights and Airbnb stays creates the perfect environment for – especially – young people to traverse diverse urban and natural landscapes. The opportunity to forge new experiences in the stunning European capitals is now readily available due to this economic accessibility. However, this has created the systemic concern of the local population displacement, and Gen Z replied categorically with the movement “Tourists go home”. Why Gen Z? Well, statistically our generation didn’t have the same luck as millennials or baby boomers had. Our access to stable jobs, fair wages, and property rental is at its lowest, and this generation exhibits more heightened sensitivity to social justice and civil rights than our precursors.
Let’s start from the beginning, it would be misguided to attribute blame to the tourists at first. If anyone is presented with such opportunities at a young age and gather new memories at an affordable price—before the burden of capitalism, financial responsibilities, and family matters fall over their shoulders—they would absolutely take it. And I have personally experienced this, of course. When I lived it in my own city, and realized the damage this was causing, I started taking measures and opting for a responsible tourism model. This is, in the end, a matter of political permissiveness toward real estate proprietors and business owners, mainly, and how these practices worsen the quality of life of the locals. I could name sibling countries, like Portugal, Italy, and Greece, but I will stick to my own experience and what I have lived myself, so I will be talking about Spain.
The reality behind these cheap stays in our cities is dark, deeply troubling, and carries severe implications. Real estate has become one of the first investment options, where the rich decide to buy properties to rent them, either for short-term students who come from outside, or for tourist apartments. Over a million properties are in the hands of big proprietors, 200, 000 of which are held by just 10. The consequence? The prices keep rising and housing is sold to banks, real estate agencies, foreign investment funds, and construction companies that play corrupt games with local governments to create vacation buildings and holiday complexes. The impact on the locals? Housing is no longer accessible, young people need twice or thrice the savings our parents needed to buy a house, locals are displaced and forced to leave the cities in which they were born, and even old people have been evicted because they couldn’t pay the monstrous rise of the rental price they have been paying for decades. The streets are saturated with key boxes with numerical codes to gain access even without the need to be physically there, allowing proprietors to hold dozens and hundreds of apartments for rental anywhere in the country.
Not only housing, but this has turned our iconic spots into touristic playgrounds where restaurants can’t be enjoyed anymore; where you can’t have a peaceful walk without having to face crowded masses with selfie sticks and packed backpacks. If I say Ibiza, for sure many people would think of a paradise-like island where people can drink litres of alcohol for reasonable prices and pass out without consequences, while our police and public health system takes care of them with the taxpayer’s contribution. Perhaps a few people know that there are people who live here all the year round, and when summer arrives, hell comes with it: violence and altercations, uncontrolled drunken tourists, and insecurity while drugs wander the streets passing from hand to hand. If I say Málaga, anyone thinks of the tropical weather, nice food, and nice beaches. What do I think? Families cannot live anymore, they must find their place in the outskirts, less populated towns, and even flee the country.
While people enjoy an overpriced dish of fake paella, fish, and beer, young people from the city have sold their time and energy to work 12-hour shifts for a few hundred Euros per month, no contract, and no social security. And here it comes the explanation for why tourists are not the first to blame. Business owners decide to take advantage of this to exploit our people because “they don’t have anywhere else to work in the city, so take it or leave it, anyone else will take your position”; the government is not drawing any limit to big proprietors who turn main residences into touristic apartments and not capping the prices, letting speculation and capitalism play chess with us, our housing, our cities, our tranquility, as their pieces. Gen Z has said it clearly: halt this madness, we will not leave our birthplaces to see them converted into playgrounds. This is a generation that is tired of seeing their country slowly degenerating and losing industry to live off the income generated by massive tourism; tired of the brain drain caused by this low industry; tired of emigrating for a better living.
So, in the end, no, this is not the tourist’s fault. We are mindful, and we know that a few despicable acts performed by a few irresponsible “adults” should never represent the actions of everyone else. If the upper echelons of power do not take any action, we will fight for our rights, and for a fair model of tourism that lets people enjoy the world without devastating everything in its path. Not only the combative youth can fix this, but it’s also in the hands of the tourists and the touristic model they choose. You can opt for the easy, cheap way, and forget any damage to which you may have contributed after you board your plane back home, or you can take actions yourself to respect the place you visit and be respected by the locals.
A few tips? Forget about Airbnb, hotels are built for this; forget about fast food chains, look for traditional restaurants, bars, and cafés and eat like a local; buy in local stores, avoid tourist traps and central shops; learn a bit of the language or use translators, not everyone must speak English. Treat a city as you would like people to treat your city. And never forget that Spaniards are very nice and welcoming with anyone who needs it!
This is just the tip of the iceberg, you can inform yourself online about how to take action for a more responsible visit and how to truly support the city you visit, and dive deeper into how this noxious model inflicts harm on each locality. Anyone who wants to keep travelling must actively contribute to its preservation. And last, but not least, do not drink until you pass out and do not jump out of the hotel rooms balconies hoping free healthcare will save you—an approximate of 5–10 die each year and an estimate of 20 injuries per year due to this practice.
Practice responsible tourism before this becomes irreversible.
