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"There's only tourist flats now, but we residents need somewhere to live!"

 

As protesters marched through central Barcelona on Sunday, they shouted at the tourists who were filming them to "Go Home!".


Bemused couples sitting in street cafés got squirted with water pistols and a luxury clothes store was pasted with stickers declaring the tourists who'd shut themselves inside unwelcome.


Tourism is hugely important to Spain and Barcelona is a top destination for visitors. But the crowds are growing so fast that many locals complain they're being squeezed out of their own cities.


Here and in popular spots across southern Europe, residents are pushing back.

We cannot live in this city. The rents are super high because of BnBs and also the expats who come and live here for the weather," Marina explained, holding her own banner as the crowd gathered.


It declared "Your AirBnB used to be my home".


Other signs called for a ban on the giant cruise ships that dock here, with one announcing that over-tourism is "killing" the city.


"Our goal is not to stop tourism, because it's also good, but to have it at a normal rate," Marina said.


The protesters' route wound towards one of Barcelona's biggest attractions, the towering Sagrada Familia church designed by Catalan architect, Gaudi.


A combination of stunning architecture, sea and sun drew more than 15 million visitors to the city last year, almost ten times the local population. No wonder it's feeling the strain.


"We're not against individual tourists, it's about how we're managing this," Elena, a young marine biologist, said.


"Young people can't afford living here or even normal things like coffee that are all really expensive for our salaries."