After making preparatives over the last few months, BiziLagunEkin ('with our neighbours') platform has been set up in Donostia. "The current model of tourism in the city concerns us. We are a meeting place for people from different ideologies and ways of life. What brings us together is a concern about the consequences of tourism in our city on local people's lives".
On 25th May, when a world tourism meeting is going to be held in Donostia, a demonstration will set out from the Sagues area of the city. We Live here; We Want to Live Here! will be the slogan.
And before 25th May they are going to work on several tourism issues throughout the city. For instance, there will be conferences, film shows and other acts.
The platform members have communicated their objectives in two press releases. For one thing, they call for "a serious, transparent and open debate" about tourism in Donostia; they also request that "the people of Donostia's living and working conditions be the priority".
They protest that people who say that the current tourism model cannot be altered want to "avoid any discussion". However, the platform believes that it has managed to get some ideas across to the public.
They also state their concerns in the press release. Tourism in Donostia, they say, is run "for the benefit of the few and to most people's disadvantage; the city is being managed "like a company"; tourism has made the city "a servant to investment"; employment created by tourism is precarious; housing being used for tourism leads to local people being kicked out; "public spaces are being used for consumer activities"; and, finally, tourism is "homogenizing" cities and citizens all over the world.
This article was translated by 11itzulpen; you can see the original in Basque here.