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Fodor’s has launched its ‘No List’ for 2025 and – surprise, surprise – out of the 15 global destinations it is asking travellers to reconsider a visit to, three are in Spain.
They are of course Barcelona, Mallorca and the Canary Islands, which were the epicentre of some of the biggest anti-tourism protests in Spain in 2024.
You’re probably familiar with the reasons they give for asking holidaymakers to think twice – the impact overtourism has on locals’ lives, how Airbnb-style lets are hiking up rents for residents and the general animosity that’s bubbling towards the figure of the tourist as a result.
What’s very telling of the times that we’re living in is that a travel institution such as Fodor’s, which has as its primary purpose to encourage people to get out there and explore – and buy their guides in the process – is now actively discouraging people from going to certain places.
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Spain’s full tourism stats for 2024 are yet to be released, but those from January to November have, and the 88.5 million who visited España during that period already represent an 11-month record. December is a busy month for Spain so without a shadow of a doubt, they will set a new high for international visitors.
So, despite the “tourists go home” banners appearing on TV screens around the world, the holidaymakers on Barcelona’s Ramblas being sprayed with water pistols, the new charges to visit famous spots that were previously free, the rise in hotel and flight prices, and the tens of thousands of Google searches from people asking “Should I cancel my trip to Spain?”, more people than ever visited the country over the course of 2024 than any other year.
READ ALSO: Have Spain’s anti-tourism protests turned nasty?
This begs the question, what actually has to happen for Spain’s tourist numbers to not carry on growing year on year as has happened since records began (bar the pandemic)?
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Of the many ingenious messages on protesters’ banners during the anti-mass tourism protests last year, one described their city as “a theme park for idiots”. Is that what Spain’s main cities and holiday hotspots are now? Is there no going back?
Worst of all, overtourism is intrinsically tied to the country’s housing crisis, which experts believe will only get worse this year.
When I ask friends in Spain about this spiralling situation, several have said to me “esto va a explotar” (this is going to explode), but when I then ask them how, none are entirely sure. What do you think? What comes next if protests don’t work and the Spanish government doesn’t take proper action?
In other news, there are now wolves in Madrid. Admittedly, they’re not walking down Gran Vía, but they are repopulating La Sierra de Guadarrama mountain range in the north of the Community of Madrid.
MAP: Where in Spain do wolves live?
The Iberian wolf was on the brink of extinction in the 1970s, but hunting prohibitions ensured that its population bounced back, and it has been expanding throughout the 21st century, mainly in northwest Spain.
However, more recent changes in hunting legislation have meant that this subspecies of grey wolf has continued to grow in number and slowly made its way to the outskirts of the Spanish capital.
In fact, it’s been wreaking havoc every so often on the sheep flocks of local farmers in the Guadarrama Sierra, who are far from happy given their very narrow profit margins.
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There are an estimated five wolf packs in the area now – nocturnal, roaming but territorial.
Last December, they killed 35 sheep on a farm near El Escorial.
The killing is an example of the difficult balance Spain has to strike between protecting its endemic species and not allowing them to have an impact on livestock farmers’ livelihoods, even more so when they start to encroach on more urban areas.
A similar dilemma involves Spain’s bear population, found at high altitudes in places such as Asturias and Aragón.
They are also responsible for killing sheep and cows, leading farmers and members of far-right party Vox to call for the bear population to be controlled, even though there are only an estimated 370 specimens between the Pyrenees and the Cantabrian Mountains.