Tourism | The Finns’ favorite destination in Spain is “on the verge of collapse”, say the locals

City is collapsing.

This is how a local interviewed by the British broadcasting company BBC describes Málaga, Kike España. According to him, mass tourism has made the city like an amusement park.

in Málaga visits annually about 1.4 million tourists.

“The flow of people is consuming the city, not inhabiting it,” he describes.

The biggest disadvantage of tourism is its effect on the price of housing.

A Finn has also noticed the same Klaus Hellbergwho has lived in his own apartment on the Aurinkoranniko since 2007.

A large number of apartment owners rent their apartments short-term, which causes a housing shortage and an increase in prices.

According to the residents of Málaga, it is difficult to find a rental apartment in the center for less than 1,200-1,300 monthly rent, reports the BBC. With an average salary of around 1,600 euros per month, many locals cannot afford the price level.

According to Hellberg, since short-term renting has become more common, “normal” apartments have decreased everywhere on the Sunshine Coast. Everyone is a little upset about the situation.

“Yes, everyone there complains, even tourists, that the rent level has risen,” Hellberg tells HS by phone.

However, he draws his attention to the situation of the locals.

“Then how does it affect these people who have to live somewhere on rent. It’s clear that this is quite a problem,” says Hellberg.

However, Hellberg emphasizes that people have nothing against tourists per se.

“I think so [arvostelu] is directed against this Airbnb system.”

Málaga however, it is not the only Spanish city where the negative effects of tourism are felt.

In the spring, a hunger strike against the construction of new tourist destinations was organized in Tenerife, which is part of the Canary Islands, and in Barcelona, ​​water guns were used against tourists.

The US newspaper The New York Times even pondershas European tourism come to an end.

Although the travel statistics for this summer are not ready yet, they are believed to exceed the level of 2019.

The locals’ problem is not only the masses of people.

July was not only the warmest in the history of measurements, but also the 14th month in a row during which the heat record has been broken, tells US federal weather and ocean research organization NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).

When hot air combines with a huge number of people, cities become suffocating and oppressive furnaces.

Third bad behavior of tourists is often mentioned as an adverse effect of mass tourism. In the holiday mood and under the influence of intoxicants, it is easier to get all kinds of whims.

According to Hellberg, the locals have no problem with permanent residents like them. Apartments that sometimes have well-behaved vacationers as guests are a headache.

“If there is a house with thirty apartments and five or six of them are Airbnb apartments, of course it disturbs the other residents when there is a group of people who come on vacation and hang out more,” says Hellberg.

in Spain 85 million people from abroad visited last year, according to the BBC. This year, the number is expected to rise to 90 million.

Tourism generates about 13 percent of Spain’s gross domestic product.

Corrected 3.9. at 4:42 p.m.: The caption previously incorrectly read Larios Street, even though the name of the street is Larios.