Spanish anti-tourism activists set their sights on Michael Barrymore after the English comedian revealed he had abandoned plans to move to Barcelona.
The former Kids Say The Funniest Things presenter had posted a video of himself in front of the Sagrada Familia to TikTok in December.
The tongue-in-cheek post was captioned ‘Ignoring Sagrada Familia because I’m a local now (I’ve been here 2 weeks)’, and featured him holding his hand up to obstruct the view.
But ‘Guiris Go Home’, a page on Instagram, shared the video in the Catalan capital overlaid with the caption, ‘Expats go home’, after he announced his plans to leave, according to the Olive Press.
But earlier this month he told his 3.5 million followers that he would soon be moving to a ‘house with a garden’ after apparently giving up on his property search in Barcelona.
In a video posted online before returning to the U.K., he explained to his dog, and fans: ‘You know what Lara, I’m a f***ing mess, so homesick, I’ve never experienced it before.’
Backlash against British visitors and expats continues to grow in the lead up to the busy summer period, with the number of foreign visitors rising to nearly 22 million last year.
Pushing back against overcrowding, inflated rental prices and the ‘touristification’ of the economy, protest groups decry perceived government inaction on the matter.
Several leading groups issued a letter to those visiting Mallorca last week, deeming the situation ‘like a war’.
A group protesting ‘overtourism’ in Spain posted Barrymore’s video overlaid with the caption
The activists claimed that ‘Mallorca is not the paradise’ being sold to tourists, alleging that locals are ‘angry and no longer hospitable’ because holidaymakers are destroying their home. Pictured are protesters flooding the streets of Mallorca last July
Anti-holidaymaker protests escalate as ‘kill a tourist’ graffiti appears on wall in Majorca
‘ENOUGH! STAY HOME! We do not need more tourists; in fact, you are the source of our problem,’ the letter posted to X read.
‘The island has been exploited to unimaginable limits, leading to the collapse we are now suffering.
‘The money generated by the tourism industry has attracted people from all over the world who trade with our island.
‘The greed and avarice of hoteliers, politicians, real estate investors, and all kinds of “parasites” have brought us to an emergency situation,’ the letter read.
The authors went on to write, on behalf of residents: ‘We ask you, DO NOT COME.
‘We do not need more tourists; in fact, you are the source of our problem.
‘Locals say: ENOUGH. STAY HOME!’
The letter was posted after visitors to Spain’s party paradise of Ibiza were left disappointed last month after a popular viewing point was dramatically blocked off with boulders in the latest sign of growing local resentment towards mass tourism.
The famous Es Vedra viewpoint, where thousands gather to watch the sun sink behind the mountainous island each evening, is now off-limits after frustrated landowners declared they had had enough of being overrun by crowds.
A blunt sign now warns visitors: ‘Private Property. Restricted Access.’
Visitors to Spain’s party paradise Ibiza last month were left disappointed after a popular viewing point was dramatically blocked off with boulders
Graffiti reading ‘kill a tourist’ has been spotted on a wall in Tenerife amid Spain’s anti-protest movement
A protester holds a sign reading ‘Take back your drunks, give back our homes’ in Mallorca last July
But the blocked roadway was seemingly tame compared to the violence and chaos that erupted in Tenerife last week, where furious activists reportedly torched and smashed a fleet of hire cars in a shocking act of protest.
Disturbing footage circulating online shows masked vandals dousing around 20 rental vehicles with flammable liquid before setting them alight in the popular Costa Adeje resort – a favourite among British holidaymakers.
Angry demonstrators targeted visitors last year, blaming them for soaring rents and a cost of living crisis that’s driving locals out of their homes.
Some campaigners have even threatened to take their protests to the next level by blocking airports.
In January graffiti reading ‘kill a tourist’ appeared in Tenerife amid the holiday hotspot’s ongoing protests against holidaymakers.
The slogan was spotted on a house in the south of the Spanish island by a concerned resident who admitted to being worried that the mass protest movement against overcrowding was going too far.
Speaking to LBC, they said: ‘Things on the islands are getting worse due to the large number of tourists and new residents, which leave us without homes and severely affect our natural environment’.
The local, who remained anonymous due to safety concerns, added that people on the island are becoming desperate for change and respect.
‘But perhaps this does not justify those actions, which seem to be escalating. It’s frightening,’ they said.
One demonstrator in Alicante held up a placard reading ‘tourism=misery’ last year
Some banners read ‘stop turismo’ and were marched through the streets of Alicante
‘Overtourism’ has contributed to the felt strain of low wages and limited housing across Spain, with protestors turning out in major cities to demonstrate against economies built around catering to tourists.
Last summer, protestors in Alicante organised their first major march through the city, arguing limits should be placed on the tourism industry over concern locals are being priced out of housing and trapped in unstable seasonal jobs.
An organiser for the ‘Alicante donde vas?’ group behind the march told MailOnline at the time that they wanted to make the ‘conflict visible’, calling on the local authorities to ‘take measures to put the needs of the people who live in the city at the forefront, compared to the wishes of those who visit the city’.
‘The fatigue of many people in Mallorca, the Canary Islands, Barcelona, or Alicante, is enormous; the anxiety and stress of having difficulty renting a house; or for suffering horrible working conditions; or not being able to sleep well because there is a tourist apartment in your community… ends up causing pain and suffering that can fuel hostile reactions towards tourists,’ spokesperson Salva said.
Protests have adopted a more aggressive bent in some affected regions; up to 50,000 residents took to the streets in the Mallorcan capital of Palma last July to ridicule England fans over their Euros bow-out.
The second major protest in two months saw demonstrators hold up banners, written in English, that read: ‘Take back your drunks, give back our homes.’
The backlash took a sinister turn when graffiti reading ‘Kill a Tourist’ emerged in several locations in Manacor, on Mallorca.
Earlier in July, protestors in Barcelona sprayed tourists with water guns as they marched through areas popular with visitors.
Police said some 2,800 people had turned out to demonstrate, demanding a new economic model that would reduce the millions of tourists visiting each year.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .