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SPAIN'S TOURISM CRISIS is far more complicated than it seems.....
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- Published on Apr 15, 2026
- I set out to make a video about Spain's so-called "war on tourism." What I found was something far more complicated-and far more personal.
For as long as I can remember, Spain has felt like home. But between Brexit, inflammatory headlines, and protests in the streets, I started to question whether I was still welcome.
So I spent weeks traveling over 4,000 kilometers across Spain-from Extremadura to Soria, from Cartagena to Cuenca-trying to understand what was really happening.
What I discovered wasn't a war on tourists. It was something deeper
This video isn't about taking sides. It's about understanding why these tensions exist-in Spain, in the UK, everywhere tourism touches. And it's about finding a way forward that works for everyone.
Because in the end, we all want the same thing: a place that feels like home, and the chance to share it with people who appreciate it.
A huge thank you to everyone I met while making this video and to my old mate will who did a lot of the driving in Extremadura, but especially to the Amigos del Sarnago.
I will be making another video that will feature a lot more of what.I saw and learned in Sarnago (and other video about the places I visited in this video). but in the meantime if you would like to know more about this lovely community please check out their webite:
www.sarnago.com
LOCATIONS FEATURED:
Alicante | Mérida | Cartagena | Cuenca | Extremadura | Elysium City | Benidorm | Sarnago | Weymouth
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I took a 2000 mile car journey around Spain this summer, I found wonderful places, people, and food, nothing but kindness and a warm welcome.
I agree
I am very happy you say so, i am sure you are not a tourist, you a are a traveller and also a kind respectful human being, and you attract what you are as simple as that. Hope you keep on discovering new places and people in Spain !
Anecdotal. Honest , but anecdotal
We go every year and drive too. We wouldn’t go anywhere else❤
next time open your eyes
An excellent, well presented and pragmatic article! Very well done!
I've been in Catalonia for 31 years now, built a business, family and rebuilt a 19th century farmhouse in that time. Ive been keeping my eye on all of this and your observations and conclusions are spot on. Great video mate, very well delivered, informed and respectful, bravo!
Respect and Interest is the key, anywhere with anyone.
Yep, and we tend to forget that this is also a very conservative culture, with a lotta _strong_ 'regional' identities as well, that was also once ruled by a RW dictator... for over three decades.
Absolutely, a traveller is a guest, and a respectful one at that, alwayssss.
@klowen7778i visited Barcelona, they can be politically fiesty on times....I absolutely adored it (as a quiet immerser type traveler of very modest income, I barely make a ripple as a visitor, and Ive never Airbnb-ed 🤭)
@welcb8733 Understood, and agreed re: the Airbnb 'tourists' in any country!
That aspect of Aribnb is affecting cities all over the planet.
I'm in East London, and the only properties being built are luxury flats being sold off-plan as short-term rental investments.
Its the same here on the East coast of the USA.
Tokyo has similar issues. Lots of apartments being bought by non residents. Prices now sky rocketing . Lots of Airbnb accommodation causing various concerns and problems.
Don't write such nonsense, it's not ONLY luxury flats being built in East London, what about the massive Olympic site development or the Barking Riverside development? Most of the properties being built in East London (and probably London as whole) are Share to Buy properties.
I agree with you. I wish there were no vacation rentals in the Airbnb VRBO type.
All over the world and in communities of every size. It can be especially egregious in smaller towns. Real estate has skyrocketed in my small town, and there is no viable career path here, in order for someone who lives here, to make enough money to afford a house here.
Air bnb has a lot to answer for. Tourists used to go to hotels and resorts, now they are in the flat above you and up at 2am, they are now staying in a flat that locals would have lived in.
AirBnB is a cancer and the owners are often completely oblivious to the misery of living next door to a property that you have no idea who’s going to be staying there from one week to the next. I am generally against taxation but this is one area where they should levy a huge local tax on AirBnB owners and make it economically unfeasable.
I'm using airbnb sometimes but I prefer the ones where you get a room in the apoartment or house with the owner so you can have a chat and learn something about the life of people in that area.
Chicken and egg…. Is air bnb to blame for creating many successful little businesses or rather helping people to create their own successful little businesses? There have been bnbs the world over. Air BnB is just a marketing tool, and a very good one at that. Most of these places were already holiday homes or rentals. The difference is that landlords are giving up on long term rentals and turning to air bnb as an alternative way for them to manage their properties. Less hassle than bad long term tenants.
Welcome to the world where big scale scammers (“entrepreneurs”) stole technology and innovative mindset from the 70s and 80s Silicon Valley to make the world and people hostages of their test bed for their psychopathic and narcissistic projects.
This idea of developing in cycles if build it, break it first and learn, so that you educate the next iteration, only works up until a certain scale and within certain contexts.
The world has gone insane by allowing itself to have everything developed by tech companies or like tech companies do.
Our cities are actually worse in many, many aspects. Urban mobility has increased a bit, but at what cost? Millions of houses - needed for local housing - are now used for short term renting. And not to speak of social media and the mass manipulation perpetrated by this now massive tech conglomerates the use our personal data as they please.
I don’t hate technology. Far from it. I love it and still believe in it’s potential to take civilisation to better levels of quality of life, for everyone eventually. But I don’t think putting all that power in the hands of soulless corporativism, which is all funneled up to single individuals that are clearly not empathetic enough, many are even camouflaged criminals I dare say, is clearly not the right way to do it.
...again, this picking on Airbnb. Before you or anyone start to make Airbnb out to be the devil in all this, remember that 93% (or 92.8% to be exact) of flats and houses being rented out in Spain, are owned and managed by SPANISH citizens!!! Don't blame the British family who come to Spain and stay in a house for 10 days, blame the SPANISH person who rather rent out his second house on Airbnb, instead of permanently renting out the house to a Spanish family desperatly needing a home, but who would pay less than 1/3 of the Airbnb rent.
A very intelligent, thoughtful and well made video about Tourism in Spain. I´m a 15+ year Spanish resident in Spain, originally from the UK, and was skeptical,. ...But after watching this I very much agree with how this presenter has thought through all sides of the story and very much agree with him. Foremost, British people living here need to make an effort to learn and use the Spanish language as much as they can, and celebrate the beautiful Spanish culture with Spanish people. Let them know how much you appreciate it. I adore Spain and most Spanish people I've met for so many reasons and feel extremely lucky to be able to live here, and hope I will always be able to do so.
Superb video. I moved to Madrid in 2000 and immersed myself in the language and culture. In 2009 I moved to San Pedro de alacantara where yes there is tourism but as I spoke Spanish the locals accepted me with open arms they couldn’t believe an English person spoke madrilano Spanish what an amazing time. Eventually I moved back to a small village outside Madrid. The beautiful becerril de la sierra where I own a small property. I’m currently working in the Czech Republic but that little property will become my retirement house. The Spanish are the most welcoming people in the world if you get to know them which is why I call it my home. Subscribed. And thank you.
Lived in spain working for a few years. I left my heart there. The people and the land....❤❤
With the risk of sounding crude, I really don’t understand why people want to go to Barcelona in the summer anyway. It is overcrowded, pickpockets and aggressive people on the streets, tourist scams everywhere, and it is quite dirty and you really cannot escape the smell of weed.
The weed smell is not so bad now, I think covid either killed the pot heads off, or meant that they had to go home to their parents.
This is a sensible and eloquent summary of the tourism in Spain issue. Thank you!
I spent many many years in Mallorca and l must say that the Brits that came for vacation wee on the whole people who enjoyed the Island and appreciated the culture. On the other hand, the drunken, obnoxious behaviour of the others was over the top. They arrived drunk and stayed drunk and wanted their beans, fish and chips, mushy peas etc....they are the ones who give the UK a bad rep. The lack of respect was intolerable. Of course in every culture there are always people like that. I have to say that the Mallorquins dove right in to accomodate. Money talks...buildings were built especially for foreigners, eating hours were changed...some restaurants had 3 dining times...Englush, German and Spanish...they were exhausted! So, there you go...both sides have their opinions. I liked your post very much and thank you for an informative report.
Well said! I go cycling to Mallorca every March and November and we are met with nothing but kindness and welcoming Spaniards, especially in the small remote villages.
Cycling in Mallorca every March and November. That’s living man. Used to be a dream of mine but aging out. Enjoy those epic climbs for me.
Its so refreshing to see people from outside of Spain being able to appreciate our country, and respecting it. This made me so happy. Thank you so much! What a great video 🫶🏻
15 years ago I had my first trip to the Canary Islands and on the morning of the second day we went down to the beach. On the way down we saw a yield sign that had been tossed in a ditch after someone had tried to chop down a palm tree with it. We also stopped by a shop on the way to the beach and two of the three male customers were only wearing Speedos and flip flops. There is something strange that happens to us northern europeans when we visit Spain.
Every time I visit Spain I fall in love with the country - and I always speak Spanish in my broken incorrectly formatted grammar - but I do speak it always and I seem to be understood! It’s built so much confidence being understood and have a conversation in the local language
I do the same too! I’m English. I am old ish (62) and have been enjoying weekly lessons with my Spanish teacher F2F in my nearby town. It’s an absolute joy to take lessons, not just about language acquisition but also about the culture. This, I have with my teacher. Best thing I have done. 👍
Where in Spain do you go to? Cause Spanish is not the local language of all Spain
Lucky you.....
French born with French father and Scottish mother so ended up living in Scotland although spending many long holidays in France.
Learned French in school helped enormously by holiday chats with the locals which all ended aged twenty when I married and had kids.
Forty eight years later, I visited France again with my father having forgotten a lot of French grammar etc but still spoke as best I could since none of my French uncles, aunts, cousins spoke English. Friend of my father complained that I didn't have a French accent and my French was poor.
P.S. He couldn't speak English but didn't seem to see the irony of that situation.........
A few years ago I had to go for a business trip to Madrid and Ibiza during late october (not even full tourist season) and my experience was so horrible I never wanna set foot in Spain or spend a single euro on them ever again, this life or the next. Such filth and rudeness I never expected from a western country. Not to mention the prices. We're in agreement I won't contribute to the over tourism. My mom enjoyed Barcelona in the 90s, but that Spain is long gone as far as I can tell.
@HisameArtwork You're one in a million, as they say in Spain, close the door on your way out.
As an American living 33 years in Venice, please come make a video here! Your original insights are invited!
Excellent video- really opened my mind to another perspective. I’m an American who has lived in both Benidorm and currently in Madrid (where I have lived for the last 5 years). Your presentation of Spain’s current issues is unbiased and candid. Looking forward to more videos.
As you mentioned some areas of Spain would have been abandoned except for tourism. The towns and cities alone "El Camino De Santiago are an example. Walkers and hikers seem to be welcome but Santiago is being taken over as the rest of Spain by people with second homes or renting their apartments out. Another lovely strip is between Valencia (what a gem), going north along the coast to Peniscola to Tarragona. The only part of Barcelona we saw was the airport. I first went to Spain in the 1970s and was surprised at how British Benidorm was and apparently still is. Great report.
I'm Spanish, from Alicante. I've witnessed the transformation of my country and, more generally, of all of Europe. It's not just Spain that's changing, it's the world. The population is divided between those of us who maintain a common sense and those who want to pit us against each other with absurd ideologies. I'm simply ashamed to show what my homeland has become. I apologize for my Google English.
Y esto es exactamente en lo que quiero que se convierta este canal a partir de ahora: una opinión equilibrada que se centre en las cosas que todos tenemos en común. En las cosas que unen a las personas. Estoy cansado de vivir en un mundo en el que lo que enfada a la gente se convierte en el centro de atención. Gracias por tu comentario (¡y no tienes que disculparte por nada!).
Don't be ashamed amigo. Spain is still great. Not like it was pre Covid but where is ?
England is going downhill much faster so please welcome us.
Your "Google English" is just English to me. No apology needed.
@blackn7150
Beware of indoctrinated idiots; for the vast majority of Spaniards, you are all welcome.
@RacerOx-wo8qq I have, over more than 30 years in Spain, received so much friendship and welcome, but I have mainly lived inland. It's different in the 'Little Britain' Gulags.
I've had old ladies tell me that their door is always open if I need anything, fruit and veg given, invited to tapas and homebrew red wine, my 2 year old son sitting in a farmhouse with a neighbour eating biscuits and hot milk.
I've been invited to private fiestas where they have made me a special gluten-free paella (I'm coeliac)....it goes on and on....
Once a resident of Dieppe in France, we realised the value of the tourist industry when the Dieppe-Newhaven cross channel ferry pulled out for almost two years. It affected not only hotels, bars, restaurants and shops but many other sectors of activity. The local economy took a hit! The cleaning company, the dry cleaners who cleaned the uniforms and laundry services, the food suppliers ( yes cooking had been from scratch) alcohol, cigarette chocolate and perfume suppliers etc. Not to mention the French crew members.
Yes the day trippers were loud but the town relied on their patronage.
Yep.. We lost the Jersey ferry in Weymouth (after the council spent 10million quid rebuilding the quayside and made it too small for the ferry to dock 🤦♂️) Local BnBs and hotels lost all the people who would stay overnight before catching the boat in the morning - and with it all the jobs you talk about suffered - suppliers laundry etc.
But Weymouth has been built around tourism Since George III made it fashionable in the 1700s. Losing tourism undermines its identity. I can understand how communities that were never set up for tourism feel undermined when they get taken over by Airbnbs.
Pero eso es vender tu alma al diablo , y si no hay turismo pues te reinventas, al principio costará pero no pierdes tu idiosincrasia.
No podemos vender España a trozos y menos a gente que cree que somos su colonia😢 .
Yo hablo Inglés pero no en España
@fontantorres3938come as a tourist to the UK and in many towns and cities you would not know in which country you are at that moment. A friend went to a town not far from London and thought they were in the middle east! The world is changing everywhere not only in Spain
I used to go to the app as a young boy on school holidays or with my parents late 70s early.
I also went for lunch on a day trip for about 15 years ago. I only live about 10 miles from New Haven. Many fun memories
Dieppe, know it well. I used to live about 10 miles inland. The folks of Dieppe and Pays-de-Caux were rather insular but nevertheless quite friendly once you got to know them. Further north, the Ch'ti of the Pas-de-Calais were totally different, more open and friendlier , probably due to their proximity to Flanders and the Belgian influence (?).
Excellent thank you. We are on our 3rd winter in Spain and it's still fantastic. We love the small towns.
Good content, I'm a tourism professional in Valencia and get the question all the time from clients if tourists will be harassed and my resounding, NO, and my own observations here are absolutely concurrent with your well explained and articulated commentary.
It's a great video, a lot of empathy shown, and I like the way it worked out. I am glad to see someone speaking to tourists from the UK and the anglophone world about the issues and complexity of tourism here.
I did almost click off in the beginning when you mentioned that part of what led you down this path was the horror that someone might have to pay extra tax on their second home if and only if they don't get a residency permit. That is...hard to empathize with for most people.
Extremely level headed and well structured approach. Thank you.
Excellent video. Thank you
Brilliant video, mate. I truly appreciate you are so respectful and unbiased towards both the tourist community as well as the local Spaniards.
Thanks
Kudos for this. Thoughtful and thought provoking.
I spent a month in Spain when I was in high school. It’s a wonderful country
This has to be one of the best analysis of what has been happening not just in Spain. I live near Edinburgh & that suffers badly from overtourism, pricing people who live & work in the city out by taking homes into short-term holiday rentals, also people moving here & not respecting or understanding that Scotland has its own culture beyond whisky & Highland cows. Excellent insight!
I was moved by my company to Glasgow many years ago and i loved the experience, Edinburgh was absolutely amazing but, while i felt at home in Glasgow ( was not very touristic those days) in Edinburgh i had the feeling that something bad was starting to happen...now it is all over the world
I moved out of Edinburgh some years ago because the flats above me became Air b&bs and I could no longer afford my rent on my tiny one bedroom flat, which was more than my now 3 bedroom house. The issue is, everyone is now doing the same which is putting house prices up in the surrounding areas of Edinburgh too.
Edinburgh is shit now
Everyone thinks its just happening in their country but its happening globally!
Never knew we weren't welcome. We won't visit you again. Promise
Hi, I'm a Spanish lady from Marbella who lives in Weymouth. Thanks for your video, I wish many English people would look at it as I have been questioning too many times what the problem was with tourists in my country...
Great insights. After doing the Camino I toured some of more remote Roman digs I found the Spanish residents to be wonderful.
This was one of the best travel videos that I've seen because it also included commentary on the tourism and local friction. Keep up the good work.
👏👏Bravo mate! Spot on! People like you are in great need in Spain.
Great video! It’s all about respect. I live in Amsterdam and here we’re also fed up with the type of tourists that are drunk from morning til evening and treat our city as an adult playground. I’ve also visited Spain many times and have always been met with a warm welcome. When we go there we want to enjoy the nature, the sun and the seafood. We don’t go there to drink and shout on the streets. Spanish people are very kind and warm-hearted. It’s all about your behaviour as a visitor that determines how you’re received.
Sex slaves who are forced into drugs on display and you wonder why you attract the wrong crowd? Did they shut that down yet?
Top quality production. Appreciate all your hard work.
Brilliant video explaining a lot of things people don't actually see through the news.
My circumstances are somewhat different to your own. I actually moved over here in '82. And I live in the third biggest city in the country.
I hate what has happened to the old town of València (in case anyone was wondering which city I was talking about), Airbnb's and other tourists apartments have taken over the majority of the area. On the other hand, I live in one of the working districts actually nearer the beach, but just not round the corner. In general we don't have complaints about abandoned ground floors being converted into tourist accommodation (we have actually only had a single incident in two years, and it regarded the only luxury accommodation which has a swimming pool and people partying at five or six o'clock in the morning).
That doesn't take away from a factor that most people have overlooked specifically when it comes to cities like València and Barcelona, it probably also affects Palma or Málaga. These are cities which have actually reached their geographical outgrouth and that has affected them massively.
Very interesting documentary. I went to Santander in august ,they were having festival ,it was so beautiful. Different dynamic in the bars and the squares where everyone was congregating, it was families ,everyone from young to old. Everyone was welcoming that we talked to . We had a great time
First time viewer, new subscriber. Thanks for the upload.
Advice if you want to live in Spain:
1). Rent for 6 months somewhere at least half an hour from the coast. There are thousands of towns and villages with very reasonable rent.
2). Use the base for visiting cities and coastal towns to see if you fall in love with one
3). This way, you'll know if the climate is suitable for you
4). Get in to an expat site and really find out about life in Spain. How to get Resident's TIE, driving licence etc. Healthcare.
5). After 6 months you'll either be in love with Spain (like me) or want to go home!
6) learn Spanish
7) learn Spanish
8) do not expect people to speak YOUR language(english)
9) learn Spanish
Gracias y que tenga un buen día
@marcbrun8320 exactamente. Aun solo se aprenden unas palabras, los/las españoles/as apriecen su intenciones. Un problema es que cada zona, efectivamente cada pueblo tiene su acento propio. Para mí, hablar con un madrileño es un placer después de hablar con andaluces, dónde vivo. 😊
"Expat"? Don't you mean immigrant?
Good tips, but don’t rely on expat sites for anything other than opinions, they are absolutely rife with well intentioned misinformation and seemingly helpful posts hiding ulterior motives.
@davidpalk5010 yes, and many Brits are illegal immigrants in Spain, living under the radar. However, they are ALL paying into the system in VAT, fuel tax, alcohol tax 😅, etc.
There are NO benefits in Spain for British immigrants.
Very well put,Thankyou.
Same as in Bournemouth,the lake district etc😢
Informative, insightful, practical and instructional. An excellent piece, indeed a tour de force of video production, explaining as it does the subject matter it’s effects on the viewer and how to respond positively; in other words here’s the problem and these are the solutions. Well done my man! Much more about humanity than just tourism, good or bad.
I just returned from five days in Spain and found myself warmly welcomed by the Spanish, just as you said. In my travels I have always found it to be true in every country: if you show up with respect and good behavior, you will gently break through any suspicion or negative feeling- if there is any negativity to be overcome, and often there isn’t. What’s more, you will make connections and have experiences that are the best part of foreign travel. Excellent video.
Great video. What you gave as the reasons applies globally.
I was born and raised in a town in the south of Tenerife (Canary Islands) very close to tourist areas. I remember that as a child, English people came to my parents' store, they had had a house in the next town for 20 years, where they lived for more than 6 months a year, and they only knew how to say hello in Spanish. All their neighbors were English, they spent their time in English pubs, and in the supermarket they had to serve them in their language because they had to please them. With the growth of tourism, foreigners from those same countries begin to arrive but to work, and two or three years ago they fined a pub in Gran Canaria, because the workers did not know a single word in Spanish, and they were told that if they had a business in Spain, they had to know a minimum of Spanish.
On the other hand, of course we know the importance of tourism, and most of us know that the problem is the control of that tourism. The Canary Islands are one of the key points of tourism in Spain, and have some of the highest poverty rates, with increasingly more expensive homes, not only due to tourist rentals but also luxury or semi-luxury homes intended for foreigners.
Eso de las multas me parece una muy buena idea!!! O examen de Español a quien quiera vivir en España.
Conozco a ingleses viviendo en España desde hace 25 años, que muestran lo mismo. Saben pedir una "cerveisa" 😅 , sus mecánicos son ingleses, sus dentistas, médicos, electricistas yfontaneros también. Una vez oí a un inglés sentado en una mesa vecina de un bar decirle a otro que iban a mudarse porque ya había demasiados españoles viviendo en la zona. 😮 Esto no tiene nada que ver con el turismo, sino con el problema que surge cuando los extranjeros no muestran ni interés ni respeto por su nuevo país anfitrión. (Quizás un remanente del pensamiento colonialista.....) 😉
How do you feel about the South Americans and Africans that are migrating to Tenerife?
I've noticed an increase in recent years and a local was telling me they are taking up much of the housing too.
At least the English bring money with them.
@dynamicserb7986
If they complain about the Africans and South Americans who come to work and occupy housing, they would have to complain about the thousands of Europeans who also come to work and occupy housing. The problem here for anyone is that having a salary of 1000 or 1300 euros (there are people who don't even have that) you have to pay hopefully 700 or 800 euros for a ridiculous apartment. Because they rent it to a tourist for the same price for two weeks or one. Example of a case that I know. A couple owns an apartment in which they live. The owners of the one next door rent it but they live in Madrid and the one below them belongs to some European women who rent it for tourism and don't even live in Spain. That is to say, the people here do not have housing, and of the money that the owners earn, practically nothing stays here.
@dynamicserb79861)why do the Anglogermanic tribes always think in terms of money?
2)latinoamericans at least speak the language.
same here in North Wales, everything is a holiday let, many villages are affected here.
Local people's income had gone up for the tourism.
Very well thought out and presented. Thank you.
I can’t thank you enough for making this video. This is very personal to me and I value your take on it.
You might want to consider how much control residents have lost everywhere. In the abandoned Spanish town, moving towards preservationist tourism was probably unanimous. In Alicante or Barcelona, private capital still has outsized influence over planning policy, even if the overwhelming majority objects. Democracy everywhere is badly broken. There is no community-driven policy. The people might win a few battles, but in cities they're definitely not in control of their neighborhoods. Everything you mentioned interacts with that problem, including the direction of the local economy: profiteers may want more tourism, people may instead prefer more local self-sufficiency. But the communities have lost control: that's what generates the resentment.
First time viewer and commenter. Many countries are tourist driven have the same issue. Great video
I lived in Andalusia for about 5 yrs, in an old pueblo stone townhouse. There were a good handful Brits in our little corner, but most of the neighborhood were ancestral families. We all got along because we spoke to each other, tried or did speak Spanish, and were willing to learn the ways of the locals and enjoy them. We loved it and rarely had issues unless a local house was rented by yobs. Then we all complained.
There's a pecking order we learned in these villages, and is also followed in C. America where I now live in a tiny pueblo. The first time you go in a shop, you're noticed. You may not be served in order of arrival, as customers are given preferential treatment. The second time in the shop, you're fully acknowledged. The third time, you're a customer, and given you're place in the queue. One time my husband was in the local ferreteria, and was given his place in line. Another local customer complained, and the staff explained that my husband was a regular customer. No more complaining.
My Spanish is OK, but as I age, I find I forget more easily. I've always ask for the Spanish word for a new item or action and then write it down in the small notebook I carry. (For me, writing helps cement the memory). I find this often smooths things, as they realize I'm trying to progress my language skills. I always use a second strategy when encountering an English speaking local. I ask for intercambio and correction, and continue in Spanish, trying to learn.
Let's be honest. Most people aren't cut out for expat life. Being away from the constraints of community makes people more of who they are, and hence the inability or lack of effort for some to learn and integrate. The number of times I've heard English speaking people state 'Country X would be perfect if it weren't for the *insert derogatory name for citizens of that country* is too many to count.
If you want it like home, stay home. Stop irritating everyone with your complaining.
Customers are given preferential treatment first when you are waiting to be served? What?!
...lmao. Must be a very andaluz thing.
@stirlingmoss9637small towns. Personal relationships are more important than impartiality.
@stirlingmoss9637 Clearly you have never been in a small communal village! Personal connection to the person outweighs serving some random who would just pass by...
@ABC-ABC1234 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😘
Great video. All the very best from Andalucía
First time I’ve ever seen one of your videos. I’m super impressed, and I can totally relate in many ways. Thanks for such an informative and well put together episode. I’ll be checking out some of your other videos too. All the best, cheers!
Very interesting video, I've given it the 'thumbs up'. I applaud how thoroughly you tackled understanding of the whole problem. I live in Edinburgh and we get the same over-run of tourists and lack of respect but I suppose I hate it even more for the Hebridean islands as huge lines of parked-up travel vans around any scenic spot would be hard to cope with. I don't travel so much as I am retired but have been on one trip across the top half of Turkey where the other British on the bus sneered at everything Turkish and demanded their tea at British 'tea time'. The insensitive tourist has a lot to answer for. Best wishes.
Short term holiday lets of residential property is a problem everywhere. Should be banned across the board due to the pressures it puts on housing prices for locals. Also, in tourist areas like Devon, Cornwall, The Cotswolds etc people buy "holiday homes".....which are then used for just a couple of months a year - harming local business and the community. Homes such as this should pay 3x the council tax.
So hurt the small time local property owner to benefit rich hotel chains
@human-traveling-encylopedia Nobody needs 2 houses. Get a real job.
@jimbocrispy6908it's called capitalism, it's about what I want, I earned the money to buy two houses. It's not about what YOU think I want or need.
Hey, thank you for your video, I feel like you have hit the nail on the head on some points. As a Spaniard, I think that tourism is okay and expats are fine but everything needs to have a balance:
- Expats need to be integrated. It makes no sense to have lage communitites of British (or Germans for that matter) that have lived here for 30 years and still speak no Spanish. It makes no sense that there are as of now whole towns in Spain with only English or German speaking expats that DEMAND to be spoken in their own language. Expat numbers also need to be managed. As you mentioned in your video, foreigners coming in large numbers & stablishing themselved here when they have better salaries and pensions at home pushes prices up on houses and goods for everyone and totally displaces the local population. Also, please note that we dont want to sell small old little towns in Castilla to foreigners so they can have have an idillyc holiday spot (which is something that is currently happening), we want our government to diversify the industry and enhance roads and train connections in other territories other than Catalonia and Madrid so we can live in those great places ourselves.
- Tourism needs to be managed. Spain is the second most visited country in the world only behind France. We are set to surpass them and hit 100 million foreign tourists a year before 2030. Now, thats a crazy number. However, workers are a limited resource in any economy and population in Spain is barely 50M people. If you have such a large tourism sector which is a human intensive industry with low salaries then you have less ingeneers and a smaller industry sector. If you have such a big part of the population working on tourism then you have less productivity. On top of that, tourism need to be diversified: less summer & beaches & cheap booze all-included tourist packages and more around-the-year, high-end, cultural, rural & sustainable tourism. Less tourists spending more €.
Ultimately, Spain is not just a playground for northern europeans looking for sunny, cheap holidays. Neither is living here a god-given right for digital nomads or retired expats looking for cheaper houses, a great public healthcare system and good weather. I feel like some people have become too entitled tbh.
Once again, thank you for making this video and attempting to explain a deeper side to this story and how we Spaniards feel
🤗
Well said.
Absolutely agree, the entitlement of many expats is appalling. If you can't manage a basic sentence in Spanish after "living in Spain" for more than 5 years, I really can't fathom that. In any other country we would expect people to integrate and learn the local language after a few years at least, so why is there a double standard for (predominantly) English and German speakers in Spain? I attended Spanish classes in Galicia with Ukrainian refugees and within 6 months, they were conversationally fluent in Spanish. It's an attitude problem, not an aptitude problem.
Couldn't have said it better myself.
Spain has what 226,000 British expats while UK has 197,00 Spainish expats (and 1 in 6 in UK is foreign born) so not a disproportinate swap
''Less tourists spending more €.'' and this is what it ultimately comes down to - if you´re not well off, sod off.
I have been visiting Cantabria since the early 60s. We had to learn at least the basic in Spanish because no one spoke any English. We had lots of fun over the years and made life long friends whom I still visit. I now live in Galicia and have come across the same warmth and hospitality here as I found as a child and adult visiting Cantabria. Galicia has become more popular with tourists plus more and more immigrants from the US and a few from the U.K. and Ireland are making it their home, but nothing like the numbers found on the southern costas. Recently, hand written notices in Spanish have started appearing saying that tourists are terrorists. When I have spoken to local people they say that it is the young posting these who did not experience the abject poverty the north of Spain went through post the Civil War and decades after. But I do realise that the young are also being priced out of the rental and housing market by AirBnB. The unrest seemed to start as these vacation homes became more popular yet the population have also benefitted from the increased number of tourists in other ways. It is a difficult one!
Excellent analysis. Thank you for this video.
En España en general nadie esta contra el turismo.
El problema es que buena parte del negocio se ha concentrado de tal forma en unas pocas areas que ahora están saturadas , y ademas esta chocando con cuestiones de conservación y respeto al medio natural. En grandes ciudades es otro tema, tiene que ver con la disponibilidad de suelo urbano y la falta de vivienda de protección oficial.
En el interior de España hay turismo, pero en su mayor parte es nacional. El negocio se basa en los circuitos por Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla... Y además el turismo es muy estacional en la mayor parte del país.
Well said, thank you!
Excellent, insightful video. I hope your viewers appreciate the time and effort taken into making this one. 👏
Thanks, Yes, a lot of time and effort (and emotion) went into this one, thanks for noticing! I don't think I appreciated the time and effort when I started 😂... but there's a video to come for every location I visited and I had a lot of fun too.
@SpainunfilteredSpain is such a vast country, its great to explore and discover new places. Some you mentioned we've covered in the past, and couple we plan on visiting next big Spanish road trip... enjoy 😊
Agreed!
From presonal experience, i have been nothing!!!! But!! Have been treated with warmt, kindness and friendlyness being in spain on trips. I am dutch.
Thanks for the balanced comments. Air n b is decimating long term lets everywhere. Here in Inverness there is seldom more than 10 long term lets available in any one week. But hundreds of holiday lets.
I'm travelling around Spain currently in a campervan and have stopped in lots of tourist spots that I've mentioned to my English friends and none of them have heard of the places. A lot of the tourists we've met are Spanish, German, Dutch and French. But definitely mostly Spanish. Some of the villages are run down in these tourist areas that's for sure, but there is such a strong sense of community so I can totally see if you want to join that community, you have to understand their language and culture. Most locals have been friendly to us, some people are a bit salty that we have very little Spanish, but imagine going to England and only having Spanish trying to communicate with a local, you'll probably also get a few salty reactions too!
Pretty much the same in Wales too 😉😉
Too many van lifers littering the countryside with their trash.
You will not have that issue in america.
Great video i have lived here in Spain since 1977 and seen so many changes. I think i prefer the life in
the 80s. At that time you could buy a lot more things and really cheap . As ive lived on a finca since 1992 in land from the coast the Spanish people are really helpful not like the English who dont even bother to learn Spanish even after living here for 20 years and most of them want paying if they do anything for you. All my neighbours are Spanish and we all get along together. I remember at a meeting many years ago English people were complaining about barking dogs in the campo and how thy could not sleep.
I said then go back to live in the UK. It dident go down very well.
I know hundreds of Spanish people as i help out in an animal charity shop.
17 years now. You always know when a non Spanish person comes in as they never say anything. Spanish people always say hello.
We've all run into those expats... I spent 12 years in Sweden and used to run into them... if you move to a country the best thing you can do is adopt 90% of their customs, respect their prejudices and habits, don't tell them how to do things and learn the language!
My wife and I were planning a multi-week visit to Spain but after seeing how the residents of Barcelona harass and harangue visitors we will never set foot in Spain.
You won't be missed.
I was surprised to see only 15k subscribers, by the quality of the editing and content of this video I thought you'd have an order or magnitude more, well done, and without being an expert or near that, I think there are well spotted points from a very good objective perspective of the issue.
I will be rewatching this marvelous video several times. The narration, images, pov, editing is top drawer. Much thanks 🎉🎉
Thanks for watching, I hope you enjoyed the video! I'd love to hear your experiences of tourism in spain in the last couple of years...
EDIT: Thanks so much for all the thoughtful, interesting comments, I've been trying to respond but time is not on my side - but please keep them coming, even if I don't have time to respond, I am reading them and taking on board what you are saying!
And if you are planning to move to spain please make sure you check out my interview with James, a highly experienced spanish teacher, on my second channel:
ruclips.net/video/m5lTA39WLxI/video.htmlsi=fXX9F2oFTA7dwQVm
Honestly, ive been going to spain the last few years and i have had nothing but positive interactions with the local communities in Madrid, Valencia, and Andalusia. We are going to costa blanca in September, and expect nothing less. The Spainards have been very kind to us, especially when we first started coming by.
Native European people's sense of belonging is being undermined across the board and it can't be due to incompetence. It's _malicious_ and it's having _exactly_ the effect it obviously would. You even have pundits saying on their podcast that you "don't have a right to live where you grew up" and I mean come on - who, in their right mind, would ever think that would sit well with any people? The people orchestrating all of this are crazy and it is being orchestrated. It can't be happening everywhere all at once by accident, can it?
Great nuanced video. I am English, have been married to a wonderful, beautiful lady from Andalucia for 25 years. We have two wonderful English/Spanish daughters. We are all bilingual, bicultural, and have lived in both countries.
I agree with you - tourism works when the tourists respect the places they visit, and when their tourist money contributes to the local economy. More recently, however, in Spain, the UK, and in many places around the world, tourism has been extracting money out of the local economy and pricing locals out. This is like jetfuel for blaming tourists, immigrants and scapegoating.
@Add-a-commentyep im in complete agreement. Although i also feel the local and national government are contributing factors. I remember talking to a bartender in Valencia, and he although he had agricultural engineering degree, he said wages were low and he made more money bartending to tourists. I was appalled when he told me what wages were like for certain industries.
If you think tourism affects identity what do you think mass immigration does?
Nicely made, thoughtful and interesting perspective on Spanish tourism. We love visiting Spain and the Canaries but would want to continue to do that without having a negative impact on the Spanish & their way of life.
Perhaps areas flooded by cheap drunken tourism should consider raising prices, tourist taxes and restrictions on properties that can be let.
Hopefully change can happen without alienating all tourists, who undoubtedly bring prosperity and jobs.
Very interesting. First time viewer. I wonder if the big city issue was a lack of hotels? Or possibly a question why do people prefer a holiday let over a hotel. I’m a massive self catering tourist. I like my privacy and the ability to cook my own food, come and go as I please usually with easy parking.
Its a mirror of the southwest housing crises and complexities of tourism which bolster's economy.
Really well spoken and informative. Good video.
Last time I was in Spain I had clothes stolen from my suitcase at the airline and tools stolen from my locked toolbox at the job site.
Damn - I mean the latter especially NEVER happens in England after all 🙄. I thought crime happened only in South America 🤔
Nothing like taking a joke, is there ..
90% of chance it was stolen by a nonSpaniard. Now we are diverse and multicultural. Barcelona pickpockets are 100% inmigrants.
I have lived in Spain for over 20 years and I must say how insightful and well delivered your video was. Whilst the area I live in is very much Spanish it is still very evident how much of an expat community there is, whilst the majority do try to assimilate there are many who do not.
Spanish lessons should compulsory until all ex-pats are fluent.
The community changes around me here in london, sadly...tell them... :(
I hear the Brixton area has been gentrified…crazy!
It's a capital city, everywhere. I could say the same in Budapest, chinese kids are speaking hungarian... strange but they are 90s immigrants, so explains
Convinced me to make Spain one of my visit destinations.
Priceless observation! Good luck to all these great places!
I have no interest in going to Spain, but I was somewhat interested in the problem with tourism.I expected to watch for a couple of minutes before moving on. However I watched all the way through and was impressed by pretty much everything. Well presented, balanced , factual, logical and most of all, reasonable.
Thanks so much for the kind words, I really appreciate you sticking around!
Spain is an incredible country, I cannot imagine why you or anyone would have no. interest in going there, other than the fact you have read too much negative press about the
ignorant pissed up egg and chip brigade Brits who give everyone else a bad name.
I'd love to change your mind. There is a wealth of history geography culture... it's an amazingly beautiful country full of wonder ful people.. if you're basing your ideas on "Benidorm" or sun sea and sand... that's a tiny part of it.
I have no interest in reading your post.
@BoBo-ti6jh yet you did...what a wally!
We bought a second home in the south of France which will be our retirement home. I got a job there so I wouldn't leave it empty outside the holidays. Then I lost that job. And I was attentive to young families complaining about not having affordable housing. The thing is that I didn't want to rent outright.
Luckily, I found a vetted "tenant" who urgently needed housing whom I trusted to keep the place "alive" when we weren't there. She is happy to have a furnished home that she can afford, and when we're there, she can either stay as a roommate or stay with family. It's win-win.
there's no such thing as a second home. why don't you stay in your home? no need to take away the home of other people when you already have one. you are a vile human being.
The government has to protect the Spanish people first and foremost if they dont it causes resentment against law abiding foreigners.
That's fair, of course Spanish people should come first in Spain
Can we apply the same standards to Britain or is that just waysismist?
Great vid. Respectful and insightful. Thank you
Very well done video, and very balanced. Excellent and honest.
I lived in Spain for 20 years in a small village nestled in the mountains. In all my years there I never once found a Spaniard that was unfriendly. Thank you for your report which was very informative. I had no choice but to return to the UK but miss Spain, its history, culture and its people every day.
Its wonderful to see presentations on You Tube that have been thought out and researched and done with a passion, not just with AI for clickbait. Your love of Spain shines through. I can certainly testify to the value of learning the language. I married into another European country and have spent years learning my wife's language, (which is of little use outside that one country, since no one else speaks it), but it has enriched our relationship no end. I can recommend it, even though I am now of that certain age and things are harder to retain.
I would encourage anyone visiting other parts of the world to read, explore and learn as much as they can about where they are headed. It adds so much to even 'just' a holiday.
Much thanks.
As a fellow Anglophile I have lived in rural Spain for 25 years. Have integrated myself into my mountain community and have been accepted as an equal by my neighbours . thank you for highlighting what is needed from a foreigner to live here. The rewards are absolute!
After 25 years, I’d say that you’ve bought into the local culture.
But you're not an anglophile... an anglophile is someone from abroad who loves the uk...
25 years and still can't speak a word of Spanish
This is the point of going somewhere isn't it. To enjoy their culture and respect it. It's always the way I have travelled. My parents used to say, in effect this is someone's living room and you wouldn't act up in their home, you'd treat it with respect.
Lo siento , pero España no puede atender a 100 millones de turistas y jubilados.
Es muy triste su situación pero es así
Si vienen a España, vayan a hoteles, pensiones o edificios turísticos específicos , o zonas de camping controladas.
No pueden abarcar las viviendas habituales de los españoles.
Un saludo. Y.... Me han emocionado sus palabras sobre la amabilidad de los españoles hacia Vds .
Estoy de acuerdo, pero con excepciones... ¿qué piensa usted de municipios como Pilar de la Horadada en Alicante (por ejemplo)?
Hay zonas distintas del centro urbano - una zona de playa y una urbanización (ya incorporada por el ayuntamiento)
Estas zonas están, en su mayoría, formadas por casas vacacionales y de jubilación, con propietarios de toda Europa y España.
El desarrollo de estas zonas fue pensado, desde principio, para el turismo residencial.
Turismo y Ocio es una de las partes más importantes de la economía del municipio. Aparte del turismo hay agricultura, grandes fábricas de procesamiento de las fincas enormes de los alrededores del pueblo. Ahí hay muchos trabajadores africanos y sudamericanos.
En todo el municipio hay dos hoteles de una estrella, uno al lado de la carretera nacional utilizado por camionistas y otro en el pueblo que solo vas a utilizar si la única otra opción es la calle. También hay un camping con chalés pero no es muy grande.
Si suben los impuestos de la compra de una casa ahí, si suben el IVA sobre alquileres vacacionales, y si suben el IBI por casas que no están ocupadas todo el año - ¿qué va a pasar ahí?
Y si insisten en que las casas vacacionales estén alquiladas todo el año e incrementan la población permanente del pueblo sin subir los ingresos de IBI (que ya son unos de los más altos de España) ¿cómo van a pagar por el incremento en demanda de servicios municipales?
Es este tipo de municipio (y hay muchos así por las costas) en el que pienso cuando digo que lo que puede funcionar bien en las ciudades como Barcelona podría ser un desastre en otros sitios.
España es como el ave fénix, muere y resucita mejor que antes. Pueblo viejo es Españay los españoles.😂
@anacasanova7350 it's not true historically, freedom isn't always the best choice one can have, ask our neighbours in Moldova, or Montenegro. Portugal was very free before, and their villages emptied out when people moved to Switzerland and USA for work.
Wonderful video of such a complex issue. The pointers that you provide for visiting this beautiful country are quite practical, and I hope people follow these, and local laws as well.
❤ wonderful to listen and thank you for sharing your experience.
Superb video, excellent take and insight.
And no flying your British flag there!
Excellent presentation and an easy subscribe from me. I’m old enough to remember a Spain desperate to shake off the stagnation of the Franco years when infrastructure was dilapidated and poverty was everywhere, but time moves on. The Airbnb nightmare caught all countries which attract tourists by surprise and unprepared for the social consequences (and Spain’s draconian housing laws massively discourages long term rental in favour of the quick and easy returns short term lets offer). All over Europe the problem is the same with over tourism, digital nomads, and wealthy refugees from dysfunctional countries, seeking to grab a slice of stable affordability with a nice climate thrown in. Governments simply have to get a grip on the housing market and make vast swathes of it available to local residents only (as happens for instance in the British Channel Islands) because leaving it to ‘the market’ is a highway to hell for underpaid and overworked locals. Anyway I’m looking forward to more of your articulate content and yes I’ll say out loud what you diplomatically skirt around, Brexit was and is an effing shitshow!!
Brexit was and is a shitshow due 100% to politicians. The concept is irrefutable
Short term rentals are not 'easy or quick' and require keeping your property in pristine condition and paying all the bills - long term rental is much less hassle but the law means you are in serious danger of losing your house to 'okupas'. As for restricting property to locals - a lot of Spaniards are not going to be happy seeing the price of their property go down substantially.
@hejla4524 that’s the VERY hassle I’m talking about, losing your home to squatters or long termers who stop paying rent, holiday let people tend to go home eventually. Secondly, no you can’t interfere in the market overnight it takes long term planning with restrictive laws on new build and no more licences issued for Airbnb purposes (Amsterdam is already doing this). Anyway you’ve highlighted the negatives and difficulties with tackling this problem, do you have any constructive suggestions by any chance?
@gerardmackay8909 Make it easy and secure to rent your property - there is no reason to have to buy a home in popular city centres if there is a buoyant rental sector.
@hejla4524 demand though in bucket list cities like Barcelona will be massively higher than supply which creates a ‘buoyant’ market out of reach of locals
You're a good, sensible, and honest man. Great video.
What a fine video! Well produced, fair and balanced. Your closing messages on speaking Spanish are so right. Learn it before it's too late! Greetings from Matarraña.
I live in Spain and I can so relate to how the Spanish may feel about tourists. On visiting Shaggaluf (!) and walking down the mainstreet through displays of ultra cheap booze, waste chip wrappers and unconscious drunken youngsters, I was embarrassed to be a foreigner. A local friend said to me - we get the tourists we deserve. Make it this cheap and they will come. I live in Galicia - a totally different experience where I have been welcomed into local sports groups, pensioners associations, and often visit Spanish families for their fiestas. I hope to get Spanish citizenship because when I go home to the UK, I feel like a stranger in my home town.....
Thats a valid point. If you build it they will come. I remember walking past an expensive hotel in Bristol to see an American couple leaving the hotel to see a drunk girl squatting in the gutter outside and I felt that same kind of embarrassment in my own country. If those bars court that kind of person to come on holiday then they will get what they ask for. But those bar owners don't represent the rest of the locals. I'm glad to see that the local authorities there are trying to crack down on it.
Oh come on, ever been to a big City annual feria? The ambulances are scraping locals off the floor from noon. I've just spent a month in Alicante, downtown is like Benidorm on steroids Thurs/Fri/Sat night, very few tourists....
Just go to London and watch Notting hill carnival if you want to see other cultures s/exing each other, d/rug taking in the streets. chucking rubbish everywhere etc, or go to Piccadilly gardens in Manchester and see the same every night or go early and watch the day time drinkers and drug takers. That's only 2 places in England but I can name you loads more that are disgusting places filled with drunks and addicts.
Ya eres español.🇪🇸
@saltaireorangebicyclechopp8555untrue mate, yes there will be the occasional incident, but nothing near what used to happen in Magaluf, Salou or Benidorm, places that are actually trying to change that culture.
Let me give you my perspective. I’ve owned a house in a small Spanish town for ten years and spent months at a time there. My neighbours are all Spanish and I felt really welcome. I learnt a lot of Spanish, enough to converse and joke with the locals. We decided to sell the house, use the funds to enlarge our home and sell that then retire to Spain as a full time resident.
That dream has now disappeared due to new laws and financial rules regarding required income yet not allowed to work etc.
so we are looking at other countries now sadly.
It's Brexit.
We've not even had proper Brexit yet. One day we will.... Then you can cry harder.
What do you mean by " proper Brexit " ? This one is bad enough and doesn't benefit anyone. We need Brexit in reverse.@Goit_Goit
@CarmeloRamírezAlejandronope. You keep your EU, you deserve it. I'm not the only one in the UK that's had enough of them and want a clean break from their BS.
We voted to leave and they never gave it to us.
Bye. Love you xxx
Fair enough. We love you Brits anyway. Best of luck@Goit_Goit
My father was born in Berlin. My family spent 13 years in Portugal. My daughter-in-law is Portuguese. She and my son live with their three kids in Berlin. My eldest son lives with his Australian wife in Athens. We are Europeans and i stand against any barriers betwwen us. My sympathies for your situation with one foot in Spain and one in the UK.
Bollocks.
@7enmvu was it realy worth £90 billion per year?
@chriswright3179 yet more bollocks. We are not europeans, each country in europe has its own culture and traditions which should be protected but which the eu project want to erode. As you're making figures up why don't you call it 900bil? and I'd still think it was worth every penny to be free of the festering pile of coruption which is the eu.
@7enmvu oh dear! There's none so blind as those who will not see.. i brlieve the figure currently put out by the OBR is £90 billion per year. Even Badenock is reported as saying they made a horlicks of Brexit. We know where ostriches put their heads. I am just as keen on maitaining our culture as you are. I think is makes sense to do it in cooperatiion with our neighbours, who have an equal interest in preserving theirs..
Loved your report and it certainly gave things a better understanding of tourism. It’s really about getting a balance …keeping things alive for the local population but not killing their way of life
Thank you for that. i shal be supporting your channel whereeverr possible.
I went to Benidorm once, as a British person I felt embarrassed by the behaviour of my fellow Brits. It's not somewhere I'd ever return to.
Exactly, we went once, never again.
I Went once to Benidorm. Fortunately it was a road trip. 3 hours passed and I never want to see this place again.
Come to Galicia
Benidorm is a tourist dystopia. The place is ugly as sin, crowded, expensive and did i say it? UGLY There is nothing more depressing than going there in high season. It's not a resort town, it's a circus. It's not the British only. It's everyone and their momma! Benidorm should be the last place anyone should look up to to become.
Yeah me too but I’m not pretending it’s just the Brits , the Germans have caused they’re isn problems over the years in Spain , the Chinese are a nightmare to many nations and in Thailand they’re main problems are with the Aussies