Spanish lawmaker Alberto Ibáñez called for the imposition of strict controls on the nation’s inbound tourism industry to force it to reduce in scope during a Sunday interview with the Madrid-based Europapress.
Ibáñez is a member of Compromís, a leftist Valencian regionalism coalition. The lawmaker stressed to Europapress that limiting Spain’s tourism industry is necessary, as he believes it has already made it “impossible to live” in cities like Alicante or Valencia.
Europapress reports that Ibáñez recently submitted a request to the Spanish Congress to establish a parliamentary subcommittee to analyze the impact of tourism on people’s quality of life. The lawmaker told the outlet that the proposed subcommittee’s goal is to capture the “frustration” felt by the country’s tourist cities, and stressed that in many coastal cities, “residents are being pushed out so that neighborhoods can become tourist attractions.”
He further told the outlet that more cruise ships and passengers arrive in Valencia than the city has residents, which is why he believes this activity must be limited, since, in his view, it greatly affects the city’s quality of life and “does not contribute” economically.
“You close a bakery to open a locker rental or bike rental shop, with all the harm this causes the city,” Ibáñez said, and emphasized his support for “tourism degrowth” given this situation.
“We say this without any hesitation,” he added.
Ibáñez said that his leftist coalition presented the subcommittee proposal after the socialist government’s Secretary of State for Tourism appeared before Congress and “deeply disappointed us.” According to the lawmaker, her remarks failed to acknowledge the distress facing tourist cities in our country.
“In the Valencian region, not only in coastal towns and cities, but particularly in cities like Valencia or Alicante, it is impossible to live. Residents are being pushed out so that the neighborhoods can become sets for tourists,” he said.
“Therefore, it’s not just that we shouldn’t expand ports like Valencia’s, we need to limit the arrival of massive cruise ships,” he continued. “They pollute heavily and don’t contribute to the city’s economy.”
“These are people who come down here and don’t know if they’re in Valencia, Seville, or Barcelona; they buy the same souvenir pin no matter where they are, and they spend no more than five euros on a beer,” he asserted.
The lawmaker pointed out to the city of Benidorm as an example for his proposal.
“It blows my mind. We don’t need more tourists; we can’t accommodate any more tourists. And we can keep denying this until the day comes when we walk through a neighborhood where there aren’t any residents left,” he said.
Inquired by the outlet on what concerns his message advocating for a reduction in tourism might generate in cities where tourism plays a significant weight, Ibáñez argued that cities like Valencia “no longer live off tourism,” but rather “tourism lives off the city and is devouring it.”
Ibáñez clarified to Europapress that this commitment to tourism degrowth cannot be achieved without “implementing an industrial restructuring plan that generates jobs and economic activity in the cities.”
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