But the fact is not new and much less so if we take into account the two main ports in our environment, Pasaia and Bilbao. Some media take the role of speakers and advertisers from these cruises. They offer interesting information about them on arrival at ports: crew interviews, publishing reports... These media extol the tourism that is becoming an economic monoculture in our territory. The collection of cruises tells us it as good news and good news. The last legislature of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa included in its tourism plan initiatives on cruises. Despite the difficulties that its physical characteristics present, the attempt to introduce the port of Pasaia on the route of the cruises was constant:The proposal to realize the Camino de Santiago by sea, through small cruises, among others. Among other things, it is about getting to Pasaia by bus and bringing tourists to Donostia-San Sebastián.

There are data on the problems posed by cruises. Transport & Environment, a boat of this kind pollutes as a million cars according to the European campaign of sustainable mobility. It has often been said that the cruise is a floating village; it must be borne in mind that the garbage and pollution it generates does not remain in this locality, but in the sea, in the air and in the territories it visits. This is one of the most representative forms of extractive tourism. Through cruises, tour promoters use the natural, cultural and social heritage and resources of the territories for their business and only leave damage to the territory.

In the SET network of cities in southern Europe facing tourist arrivals, there are cities and territories that suffer from the problem of cruises with a much more negative impact than Donostialdea and the Basque coast. Last September we met in Lisbon members of Lisbon, Barcelona, Venice and San Sebastian. In those days we woke up and looked in front of two giant cruises. It was an excuse for members to detail the influences of the cruises. In Barcelona and Venice they are identified as one of the most relevant and harmful elements of the tourist destination, as demonstrated by the Stop Grandi Navi and Stop Creuers campaigns.

According to the members of Barcelona, the entry of such monsters into the port amounts to opening the door of destruction. Around five gigantic cruises, including the largest in Europe (10 000 people), come to it on a daily basis. The thousands of visitors are taken to the city for a few hours. Normally everything is organized, most of the food and services are offered on the boat itself and during the time they stay in the city they visit in a hurry the most representative places and monuments.

For their part, the members of Venice stated that the number of inhabitants of the city is tripled every day, especially with the people who brought the cruises. On the other hand, the colleague from the Italian city commented: It is known that mass tourism damages the tourist’s experiences and that listening to tourists who complain about the excess of tourists in the area of the Plaza de San Marco, rarely trampled by the Venetians, is common. In recent months, moreover, two cruises have suffered accidents in Venice, putting the problem of cruises back on the table.

The rulers of our territories are demonstrating time and time again in favour of sustainable, high-quality tourism. These coarse words in the case of cruises are completely wrong. As mentioned above, cruises are a form of polluting and extractive tourism. Compared to Venice, Barcelona, Lisbon and the Canary Islands, the boats arriving in San Sebastian are small and have few passengers. Some would say that they are of quality, such as Sea Dreams I, that they pay for luxury travel because they are rich tourists. From the point of view of social sustainability, it should be taken into account that this type of initiative can have a great impact on our city. Contrary to the myth that when visitors with higher incomes arrive in the city generate wealth for the Donostiarras, we are being shown the reality of rising consumer prices and the exclusivity of certain spaces.

From the Bizilagunak platform, this spring we have tabled sixteen proposals with a compass towards tourism growth. The damage that the current tourism model generates to the citizens of San Sebastian are diverse and they find it increasingly difficult to hide them: price of housing, occupation of urban space, commodification of culture, risk of natural spaces, increase of precarious jobs, drowning of the local trade... It is no longer acceptable to celebrate the growth of tourism and to tell it as good news. The proposals for tourism growth are made from the perspective of those of us who live and want to live in it; it has led us to see our living conditions in danger and to be able to live in our city.

As far as transport is concerned, we call for the need to design and organise the mobility of the territory according to the needs of its inhabitants. We are also opposed to the construction of large unnecessary infrastructures (giant ports, metro passes…). The time has come to try alternatives other than growth, with a few gains and a game that most of the time loses. In addition, we owe ourselves a reflection as a society on hypermobility today so widespread. The Stay Grounded meeting held in Barcelona these days will take part, among others, in this ten anti-enlargement and airport multiplication activists.

For all these reasons, we see clearly that cruises are neither necessary nor beneficial in the ports around us. To those who say that the problem of our city is not comparable to that of Barcelona or Venice, we answer that we have to react before we come to that. If we citizens are aware of what is happening and do not set limits, they can lead to an irreversible situation among those suffering from hunger for insatiable profit and severe blindness. We are organizing in Donostia, but much remains to be done. In Pasaia there are also concerns for those who propose tourism and cruises as a solution to the economic resurrection of the bay. In addition to tourists, do we have to welcome these boats that bring ecological and social damage? No, no!

Eihar Egaña

With BiziLagun, a member of the donostiarras platform that drowns with the tourism model.