Laurence Dollimore
ANTI-tourism activists may have reached new lows in southern Spain after excrement was allegedly found smeared on lockboxes outside tourist apartments.
Multiple padlocked boxes which contain keys to Airbnb-style lets have been found covered in poo in Sevilla this week, reports ABC.
The action is reported to have taken place outside tourist flats in the Alameda neighbourhood, in the centre of the city.
READ MORE: British tourists are branded a ‘plague’ in southern Spain
It is the first time that such properties have been directly targeted in Sevilla, although the historic city has seen a wave of protests this year.
It is not clear how planned the excrement smearing was nor who was behind it.
While some locals branded the move disgusting, others on X said it was ‘marvellous’.
One wrote below the original report by ABC: “This is marvellous!”, while another simply said: “Well done.”
Another wrote: “Translation: locals are fed up. This is going to explode somehow, it already is.”
It comes as apartment balconies in the Andalucian capital have begun displaying anti-tourism messages.
In a video online, one white sheet (pictured above, right) can be seen hanging over a terrace reading: “La ciudad para quien la habita”, meaning ‘the city for those who live in it’.
Local activist groups such as Sevilla Resiste have organised a series of protests so far this year.
The Sevilla se Muere (Sevilla is dying) association unfurled banners in Plaza de Salvador at the end of June before listing their demands for the City Council.
The group called for a ban on new tourist flat licences, which they claim are forcing locals out of the city centre due to plummeting housing stock and soaring rental costs.
Dozens of supporters of the group were seen wearing t-shirts reading ‘no to mass tourism’, before a speaker was seen clashing with a nearby bar owner who wanted the demonstrators to move on.
The group said the current tourism model is creating an ‘uncontrolled multiplication of tourist accommodation’ which brings an ‘exorbitant increase in the cost of housing, the deterioration of the historical heritage and, ultimately, the degradation of the city and its transformation into a theme park without soul or true life.’
The number of Airbnb-style properties in Sevilla has increased by at least 32% over the past year.
Sevilla se Muere defines itself as an apolitical citizen initiative that fights for a livable city.
It is one of many similar groups that are popping up across the country.
Most recently, these include Cadiz Resiste, in Cadiz, and Albayzin Habitable in Granada.
