Pilgrims turn Spain’s Santiago into world’s latest overtourism flashpoint

While some Barcelona residents sought to repel a tsunami of tourists with plastic water pistols, a neighbourhood association in Santiago de Compostela opted for a friendlier approach: a guide to good manners for visitors to their town, the endpoint of the Catholic world’s most famous pilgrimage.

Translated into several languages, the group posted it throughout the northwestern Spanish city and distributed it at its ever-growing number of hostels. It reminded tourists to keep noise down, respect traffic rules and use plastic protectors on hiking poles to avoid damaging the narrow cobblestone streets, among other things.

To little avail, it would seem. Large groups still take over the streets singing hymns, bikes ride in the wrong direction and metal pole tips clatter against the ground. Santiago’s social media is awash with photos denouncing a lack of decorum.

Tourists’ greater offence, though, stems from their sheer numbers; the old town and squares surrounding the cathedral holding the reputed tomb of Saint James the Apostle — and that was the centre of town life for a millennium — today are almost exclusively the domain of outsiders, whose influx has served to expel residents. This dynamic has left Santiago emerging as the latest global destination where longtime residents have grown embittered by the overtourism transforming their community.

“We do not have tourism-phobia. We have always lived in harmony with tourism, but when it gets out of hand, when the pressure goes beyond what is reasonable, that is when rejection arises,” said Roberto Almuina, president of the neighbourhood association in the old town that’s a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Scenery for visitors The “Camino de Santiago,” known in English as the Way of St. James, dates back to the 9th century, with pilgrims following its converging trails for up to hundreds of kilometres on paths originating in Portugal and France. The modern popularity it gained with the 2010 film “The Way” starring Martin Sheen was turbocharged more recently by social media and experience-driven travel after the coronavirus pandemic.

Last year, a record half-million people signed up to trek one of the approved routes to the cathedral — equal to five times the city’s resident population, and marking a 725-fold increase over the last four decades. Added to those masses are ordinary tourists not arriving by train.

The proliferation of short-term rentals drove annual rent prices up 44% from 2018 to 2023, according to a study commissioned by the city council for the University of A Coruna Foundation. That led municipal authorities in May to request the regional government classify the area as a high-pressure zone, like Barcelona or San Sebastian, which would help to limit rent increases.

Last November, Santiago’s city council enacted a ban on Airbnb-style tourist accommodations in the historic centre, arguing at the time in a statement that it was “a necessity arising from its significant growth, which has clear effects on the number of housing units available for residents and on their price.” Sihara Perez, a researcher at the University of Santiago, described finding anywhere to rent in the city as “mission impossible,” while Antonio Jeremias, 27, told The Associated Press that he’s considering moving back in with his mother, because his salary working full-time at a warehouse isn’t enough to make ends meet.