Anti-tourism graffiti appears in travel hotspot loved by Brits | World | News
Furious protesters have scribbled the words “Airbnb out!” across the fronts of tourist apartments in the popular Spanish city of Seville after the city approached 100% capacity during the Easter holiday. Other locals took to sealing key lockboxes shut with silicone in hotspots, including the Casco Antiguo, Triana and Alameda.
In the city centre, campaigners daubed a road sign with the slogan: “Guiris, go home” – a colloquial Spanish term for a foreign tourist or resident in Spain, typically hailing from English-speaking countries. The backlash comes after this year’s Semana Santa (Holy Week), when Seville’s 9,800 tourist flats and 250 hotels were virtually full. Campaigners have said the boom in holiday rentals is forcing long-time residents out of the city centre and sending property prices spiralling, deepening a housing crisis that has priced out young and vulnerable people.
“The only way we can try to stop this is if people stand up for themselves,” a Santa Cruz resident, identified only as Marisol, told local news site Diario de Sevilla. “There are no bakeries left, just souvenir shops and queues for breakfast.”
“If we don’t cover the walls, it looks like nothing’s happening. But what’s really happening is that we’re being pushed out.”
According to the outlet, Seville has the fourth-highest number of illegal tourist rentals in Spain, largely concentrated in the Casco Antiguo, Triana, Nervion and Santa Cruz districts, which offer the best blend of prime location, the historical charm sought out by holidaymakers and better transport connectivity.
Locals have warned that the trend is turning the Andalusian capital into a “theme park,” as traditional businesses and homes give way to tourist attractions and aparthotels. The surge has also coincided with a spike in housing costs across Seville. Average rents have climbed steadily in recent years, rising from roughly €11 (£9.60) per square metre in 2023 to around €12.6 (£11) in 2026 – a jump of more than 13% in just three years, according to market data from Engel & Volkers.
Property prices have also surged, the data revealed. The average cost of an apartment has jumped from just over €2,000 (£1,740) per square metre in 2022 to more than €2,700 (£2,350) in 2026 – an increase of roughly 30% in four years. In 2025 alone, prices rose by as much as 12–13%, making it one of the city’s fastest growth periods in recent memory.
While Spain has launched a nationwide crackdown on illegal tourist rentals, ordering platforms to remove around 60,000 unregistered listings, local councils, including Seville’s, have gone further, capping these properties at 10% of total homes per neighbourhood and banning new licenses in high-demand areas like the historic centre and Triana, with over 700 unlicensed rentals facing water supply cuts.
