Three out of four Donostiarras consider tourism to harm them “a lot”
- The UPV/EHU asks the Donostian citizenship about the perception of tourism and concludes that more than half of the population feels “frustrated”. The research was funded by the City Council of San Sebastian and the Basque Government.
The neighborhoods of Casco Viejo, Antiguo and Gros are among others that receive the most tourists. The Open Spaces research group of the Universidad Pública del País Vasco has analyzed the perception of the Donostiarras about tourism and the city model. The study, funded by the City Council of San Sebastian and the Basque Government, concludes that three out of four Donostiarras feel that tourism “harms them”. Tourism and right to the city. The information has been collected in the report Perceptions of Donostian citizenship.
A total of 605 people have participated in the survey and almost half are in the areas with the highest tourist influx. 86% of respondents are concerned about the influence of tourism in the city and 82% believe that tourism has negative effects.
The survey showed many emotions caused by tourism and highlighted that their quality of life is “very impaired”. 57% of participants have experienced frequent or permanent stress, 57% angry, 56% frustration, almost half feel threatened by the tourism model and three out of four Donostiarras consider that their quality of life has not improved due to tourism.
Tourism and prices
The economic impact of tourism in the city is also analyzed, and 53% say that tourism is beneficial for the city's economy and is the main economic driver. However, four out of five Donostiarras consider it “very important” to take into account the economic impact on the city, such as rising retail prices. In addition, more than half believe it harms small sellers.
They consider that housing prices are rising. Nine out of ten people believe that tourism increases the price of housing, traffic and the use of public space.
Mistrust in management
The tourism strategy of the City of San Sebastian has been questioned and suspicious. 70% of Donostiarras do not trust the municipal strategy and 78% believe that tourism is more important for the city than that of the Donostiarras. That is why, according to the majority, they should take greater account of the opinion of the citizens.
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