Alex Trelinski
A FRESH anti-tourism protest took place in Alicante on Sunday organised by Ecologists in Action.
It was the third-such demonstration in the city since July and was also supported by left-wing political groups.
Government sources put attendance at around 150 people while organisers claimed double that number.
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Demonstrators demanded measures to curb tourist saturation and to reduce tourist flat numbers in the city which are fuelling rises in property prices and rentals.
Banners included the slogan: “Alicante is not for sale, let’s put a limit on mass tourism’.
A large banner was placed on the wall of Santa Barbara castle with the message of ‘Mass tourism equals poverty’.
Security staff removed it and two environmental activists were arrested.
Protest organisers said in a statement: “Despite continuous record tourist visitor numbers, the occupancy of hotels and their millionaire income, the reality of the population is different with low wages, poverty, and unemployment.”
“Alicante is a model of unbridled tourist growth which only serves to make the lives of residents precarious,” Ecologists in Action added.
The group claimed that tourist accommodation numbers had risen by over 900% in Alicante province over the last decade.
