Laurence Dollimore
ANTI-tourism protesters in Spain have been branded ‘pathetic’ for taking pictures of tourists and shaming them online.
Many activist groups on X and Instagram have been sharing snaps of Brits and other holidaymakers arriving at resorts with their suitcases or simply walking around their cities.
The images are usually accompanied by disparaging remarks using the term ‘guiri’.
In a post on X today, a Malaga-based group uploaded an image of a man and a woman walking through the centre of the Costa del Sol city.
The man was dressed in shorts and was topless while his companion was wearing a red bathing suit.
The photo was emblazoned with the words ‘go home’ in capital letters.
But one local commenter blasted the post, writing simply in the comments: “You are pathetic!”
However others seemed to support it, with one local adding: “I have seen them on Calle Larios, women in bikinis, men, wet and with their chests exposed…. It seems that foreigners get away with everything.”
It is currently an offence to walk around topless or in revealing clothes in Malaga city and various nearby resorts, including Marbella, with fines of up to €750.
An Instagram page called Guirisgohome regularly shows tourists arriving to their Airbnb accommodation, with one photo of a holidaymaker accessing his keys captioned ‘guiri in action’.
It comes as more anti-tourism graffiti has been spotted around the city, with messages reading: “Guiris go home” and “your holidays, our doom”.
Up to 50,000 locals took to the streets of Palma de Mallorca at the weekend, holding anti-tourist placards whilst booing and jeering at tourists.
A banner with a picture of England full-back Kyle Walker spelt a message reminiscent of the 1996 pop classic Three Lions, reading: “The only thing coming home is you,”
Another read: “Your ‘paradise’ is our nightmare”.
Elsewhere, graffiti in a shop window told Brits to leave the island, reflecting the growing local resistance against so-called ‘overtourism’.
Last year, a record 17.8 million people visited the Balearic islands from mainland Spain and abroad, and that figure is expected to increase this year.
