The war on tourism is often self-harming

COOLING off is easy in Barcelona. Swim in the sea, sip sangria – or just hang about looking like a holidaymaker. Recently, residents have taken part in anti-tourist protests, some firing at guests with water pistols. Other rallies calling for an end to mass tourism have taken place across the Balearic and Canary Islands.

And it is not just Spaniards. Locals in Athens have held funerals for their dead neighbourhoods. Authorities in Japan have put up a fence to spoil a popular view of Mount Fuji and prevent tourists gathering. Soon there will be a 5 pm curfew for visitors to a historic neighbourhood in Seoul.

During the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic, many predicted that tourism would never return. Now, however, holidaymakers are back. According to United Nations Tourism, a multilateral agency, trips are set to nudge 1.5 billion this year, up a tad from 2019.