According to Bizilagunak, “visitors, overnight stays and the average daily price have also increased this summer. A summer breaking record in the steady growth of the tourism industry!” According to the platform, “for a few the tourism that is the golden egg hen is an economic model that drowns us for most.”
“The crowded streets, the noise, the trash, the fall of trade and the uninhabitability are evident,” according to the summoners. But beyond that, the consequences of the turistification are reaching “the whole city”: “Deeper than those seen at the naked eye and that, on a structural level, endanger the life of Donostia and its inhabitants”.
The housing situation, working conditions, the commodification of culture, the exclusion of the Basque country, the orientation of the public space to consumption, the artificialization of the natural environment, the destruction of the historical and architectural heritage… There are innumerable consequences that the tourism model has in the city, according to the platform.
That is why there have been many different actors who have joined the mobilisation of Sunday in Bilbao. Among others: Ancora, SOS Manteo, Altza XXI Herri Ekimena, KAS, neighbourhood associations, trade unions and parties.
The calls have put on the table proposals such as the reduction of tourist apartments, the adoption of measures in favour of public and social renting or the suspension of tourism promotion, among others.
Cycling march
Two days before, on Friday 25, a cycling tour with Tourism will be held under the motto San Sebastian, territory and planet in danger. The march will start at 17:45 hours from the Plazoleta de Santa Katalina, in Eibar.