In Europe, cities like Rome, Barcelona, ​​Lisbon, and Paris, which receive large numbers of tourists, especially during the summer months, have been holding coordinated "anti-overtourism" protests for weeks. Last week, demonstrations in Spain spread nationwide, and in Paris, staff at the Louvre Museum, outraged by overcrowding, temporarily closed the museum to the public. So why are the locals in these cities so opposed to tourism? These cities have always had a high number of tourists due to their historical and cultural heritage, architecture, and other factors. However, especially after the global pandemic, which confined everyone to their homes, people took to the streets, and tourism boomed worldwide. In certain European cities, overtourism is now prevalent almost 365 days a year!

The locals in these cities have long been angry about this situation. It has reached the point where headlines in Southern European media, particularly in Spain, Italy, and Portugal, blame tourists for everything from overcrowding to housing shortages. Anti-tourist groups are spray-painting slogans like "Tourists, go home" on walls and windows in neighborhoods undergoing urban renewal. In Barcelona, ​​Spain, Catalan residents, fed up with rising rents due to excessive tourists and foreigners, are staging anti-tourism protests in the streets, spraying tourists sitting in cafes with water pistols! Frankly, as someone who loves Barcelona, ​​I wouldn't want to be in the shoes of those tourists who encountered those chanting slogans while holding banners that read "Tourists, go home!"

Many of the protesters claim that short-term visitors to their country are driving up housing costs, that overtourism is harming the environment, and that it creates low-paying, unstable jobs. Barcelona isn't the only European city fed up with overtourism and taking measures to combat it. Last year, Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands, nearly halved the annual number of cruise ship arrivals to 100 to curb overtourism. The city also decided to move the cruise terminal out of the city center, reducing the ships' environmental impact and preserving the city center's historic fabric. In Italy, Venice, one of the cities most severely affected by mass tourism, banned groups of more than 25 tourists and the use of megaphones last year. Even American billionaire Jeff Bezos, who held his lavish wedding in Venice this year, for which he spent an estimated $20 to $25 million, faced his share of anti-tourism protests!

Does all this seem absurd? But there's another side to the coin: Living in Istanbul, can you say you haven't complained about rising rents and the changing landscape of the city's historical cultural centers like Istiklal Avenue? Therefore, while we find the measures taken against overtourism in European cities strange, we also forget the damage it inflicts on our own cities. Undoubtedly, the poor tourist is not to blame; the right to travel is an inalienable right for no one. Therefore, it's safe to say that overtourism, overcrowded tourist groups, and the resulting deterioration of the city's unique fabric are a problem for both locals and tourists. Tourists forced to wait in long lines, unable to visit museums and historical sites as they wish due to crowds, and unable to sit down and eat in peace are left with no understanding of their own experiences. Therefore, it's safe to say that the anti-tourism movement in Europe will eventually spread to tourist cities around the world.