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UK tourists visiting Spain face ‘strict regulation’ after locals’ petition

Spanish locals have launched a petition for stricter tourism regulation. Locals in Seville, one of Spain’s major cities, are dissatisfied with current regulations on tourism and say they “cannot enjoy” the city due to a “tourism invasion”.

Locals in Seville say tourists and holidaymakers are destroying the “life and heritage” of locals. The petition read: “Sevilla is invaded by masses of tourists that are destroying the life and heritage of Sevilianos.




“We can no longer rest in our homes because tourists come and go at all hours, the sound of suitcases everywhere, we can’t walk in the streets, we can’t sit in our usual places anymore, they are kicking us out of neighbourhoods, the prices are impossible, we cannot rest to enjoy the city either.

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“Sevilla is a theme park right now and we cannot allow it, Sevilla belongs to Sevillanos and its residents. We demand that the City Council really regulate the problem because the proposal from last March is insufficient.

“We want the number of VUT homes (holiday lets) not only to be regulated from now on but also to be reduced and great control and rates required. We must demand higher fees and controls from Airbnb, as well as from the owners of these homes, and establish greater requirements and eliminate those that do not comply, even retroactively.

“We demand that the City Council recover the city. Tourism yes, massive and toxic tourism, NO.” Earlier this year, it emerged holidaymakers visiting Seville will soon be charged to enter the historic Plaza de España under new plans to tackle overtourism in the southern Spanish city.

One strategy to combat overcrowding is imposing fees on tourists for entry to certain cultural attractions. Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia recently introduced a whopping €25 entry fee for tourists, and Seville (Spain’s third-most visited city), is the latest to implement a scheme of that kind.

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