if the Spanish don't want us,don't go there

I can understand the anger of those who can no longer afford to buy or rent in their city due to holiday lets, this applies to the Highlands, Cornwall, North Norfolk and many other places in the Uk as well. It is not as simple as blaming stag and hen parties, however repellent they are to most of us. As a previous poster said, when it started AirBnB was all about letting your spare room, about people staying with a resident; now they are often corporate investments. Walk around any coastal town and you will see the tell tale key safes by the door, we were in Cromer and in Rye last autumn, and there were lots, all in small terraced, pretty cottages which would at one time been first time homes.

I don't know what the answer is, other than hefty taxation of AurBnB profits, and seriously limiting the licensing of them.

Inflammatory headlines about the Spanish 'hating Brits' do not help to resolve this problem.

We visit the Canary islands regularly and have always been welcomed. What they need to do is clamp down on the loud, drunken, dysfunctional families (not just Brits I may add) and ban them from returning. I shudder sometimes at the behaviour of some "adults" especially those with young children, drunk, swearing and being abusive to anyone that takes their fancy. Get the guarda to fine them and ensure they are sent home with a notification to say not welcome back. It's not all young folk that cause the problems 😕

On a tour of Turkey we stayed for just one night (fortunately) at a hotel obviously favoured by Russian tourists. Families, not groups of youngsters. They were loud and obnoxious to staff, they fought amongst themselves, some were sick on the floor, others lay completely out of it in the middle of corridors - one was witnessed being kicked awake by his wife, with a baby in her arms. It was so riotous the tour company gave our group an upgrade on our next hotel.

The Swedish person you know Witzend is part of the problem. Using up a house, which would have been modernised by now whoever lived in it, but not being there all the time using the shops and other facilities, is definitely part of the problem. No one likes to think that by buying up houses abroad they are contributing to a housing shortage, but in reality they are. And unless they live in it permanently, they are contributing little to the local economy.

When I was in Australia nearly 40 years ago that was the impression I had about "some" Aussies and Bali, even back then. The British equivalent to Magaluf type resorts it appeared.

The type of stag and hens that go to maraud around any town both home and abroad, drunk dressed up in stupid matching outfits sometimes carting around an inflatable willy, give that town a feral atmosphere, Bournemouth's been ruined by too many of them. God they're the pits complete embarrassments. Particularly those who may be using it as an excuse to have one final -shag- sexual experience, begs the question "why are you getting married in the first place?". I remember passing through Malaga airport, 3 generational parties garbed up in ridiculous outfits, one including ancient granny complete with angelwings and skimpy outfit Not dignified imo

Jackiest

The problem is some of the British have behaved so badly that we are not welcome in many parts of the world.

We are being judged by the actions of a small number which is wrong and we should not do it either.

Personally, having travelled very widely over many years, I have never felt at all unwelcome anywhere.

IMO a great deal will depend on where you choose to go or stay. Some areas/resorts (e.g. Magaluf) are notorious for attracting the ‘wrong sort’ - if I’m allowed to say that.

By contrast the hotel manager of a family-friendly beach hotel in Crete, where we stayed with dd and family shortly before the Brexit vote, told us he was very concerned that if there was a leave result, Brits would stop coming. He thought his Brit guests were particularly pleasant and ‘easy’.

We hastened to reassure him that we were sure they’d still be coming in much the same numbers.

Much further afield, when we were visiting Bali some years ago, a dd who’d been before strongly advised us to steer well clear of a particular seaside resort. ‘It’s an Aussie Blackpool - you’d hate it!’

Well said, Maddyone.

henetha

I went to the Balearics in May with no problems at all. Everyone was very friendly. Although there was a small protest in one nearby town apparently, while I was there.
It's like walking a tightrope though, they really need tourists. Just not in such great numbers. I think it's a lot to do with locals being unable to buy a home since the growth of airbnbs.

The cost/lack of affordable housing is certainly a very major issue in Majorca, where a Swedish friend has a house. She inherited it from her dad who bought it - a very old village house with very few mod cons - in the early 70s, so not one of the more recent waves of buyers, but she understands the local feeling very well.

Not just Brits Cossy.
The Germans are known for their bad behaviour.
The Serbians were very badly behaved in Germany at the Euros.
There are indeed badly behaved Brits, but why the rush to criticise the British without either acknowledgment or condemnation of other nationalities who misbehave.

I would imagine the Greek and Turkish tourist boards are rubbing their hands 😂

Jackiest

The problem is some of the British have behaved so badly that we are not welcome in many parts of the world.

We are being judged by the actions of a small number which is wrong and we should not do it either.

I agree with all of this!

I was in Spain (Costa Del Sol) visiting an old friend. Many bars and hotels have barred “groups” of Brits, eg Hen/Stag do’s, as they’re literally sick of the damage done to premises and fixtures and fittings and the “fights” caused by drunk, out of control, Brits!

I went to the Balearics in May with no problems at all. Everyone was very friendly. Although there was a small protest in one nearby town apparently, while I was there.
It's like walking a tightrope though, they really need tourists. Just not in such great numbers. I think it's a lot to do with locals being unable to buy a home since the growth of airbnbs.

The people owning and running Air B n B's
Are for the main investors with money, they are not the 'local'working population.
They are now run for profit.

Tiley

We have spent a lot of time in Spain over the years, before Brexit often for6 months at a time. If you avoid the tourist areas such as Barcelona, Benidorm etc it is fine. Unfortunately the Brits behave so badly it has given us all a bad name. Inland Spain is lovely as is Northern Spain albeit the weather is not so hot as the Costas. Try to integrate and learn some Spanish and they will greet you with open arms.

No, the British don’t behave badly. Some British behave badly, so do some Germans, some Dutch, some Russians and some of all other nationalities.
We have never been to Benidorm or Torremolinus, nor any other over populated resort. We never stay in ‘resorts’ where everything is provided and you don’t need to leave the grounds. We find little privately owned rentals and explore places that are not rammed with tourists. I’m afraid though, that if tourism is to be discouraged or even stopped, then the locals will be the poorer for it. Tourism brings enormous financial benefits and everyone is richer for it. Spain was dirt poor before it embraced tourism and the EU.
We prefer Greece to Spain anyway, although we did visit Seville recently. The many restaurants were full. How many would fail without the tourists? Perhaps the Spanish prefer unemployment to tourism.
No, we wouldn’t visit the Canaries or Balearics at the present time because we would clearly be unwelcome.

Maybe the Spanish should do the same as New York City ....they have banned all short term rentals of less than 30 days ( which includes airbnb) .....obviously hotel prices then massively jumped up ..... people who really wanted to go there still went.....those who were ambivalent or on a tight budget went elsewhere..... so winners and losers I guess

Yes - schoolies week is one to avoid. Only one week a year though.

As has already been said, the protests are against all tourists, not just the British ones, the vast majority of whom behave just fine. We’ve never felt unwelcome wherever we’ve travelled, and have been told more than once how polite “the English” are compared to other tourists.

However, certain areas in Spain and in other parts of the world have actively encouraged stag and hen parties and groups of youngsters looking for a good time, and once that culture is firmly established, it’s going to be very difficult to get the genie back in the bottle.

These protests, as others have said, are about much more than the behaviour of a minority. People need to be able to live and function comfortably in their own home towns, without being swamped by visitors. But to be fair to the tourists, surely it’s locals who are profiting from the air bnbs? We choose never to use them anyway and I can’t say I’d be delighted to be drenched and heckled on my holiday.

Jackiest

The problem is some of the British have behaved so badly that we are not welcome in many parts of the world.

We are being judged by the actions of a small number which is wrong and we should not do it either.

No, it isn’t about that, the locals feel in many places in Spain that they’re sinking under the weight of tourists and want far less to be admitted.That’s tourists from any country, not just British ones.
In Barcelona they’re using water pistols at what they think are tourists sitting in cafes and restaurants.It’s fairly light hearted so far tho nobody likes getting wet, others are holding signs saying No Tourists or Tourists Go Home.
I agree with infoman there are plenty of other countries to visit until this blows over.

The northern coastal areas such as San Sebastian have not been tainted in the way that the Costas have been, somewhat cooler but un-spoilt, or was when I went there, a while back now.. I do love the Moorish part of Spain though which is predominantly in the south.

nanna8

There are places round here that we avoid on weekends because of tourists. Not bad behaviour, just crowding so if we feel like this in an underpopulated country I can imagine how people living in busy international cities must feel.

My daughter tells me that a large percentage of the Australian population is in Bali this week. 😂

We recently stayed on Ibiza and not a hint of the Spanish not liking or wanting us. From the minute our plane landed we were treated politely and helpfully by staff and also at the hotel, on buses, taxis, in shops etc. Hope to visit one of the Spanish islands again in Sept.

We have spent a lot of time in Spain over the years, before Brexit often for6 months at a time. If you avoid the tourist areas such as Barcelona, Benidorm etc it is fine. Unfortunately the Brits behave so badly it has given us all a bad name. Inland Spain is lovely as is Northern Spain albeit the weather is not so hot as the Costas. Try to integrate and learn some Spanish and they will greet you with open arms.

Monica, ditto re Oxford. A dd lives in a suburb, and I’ve found e.g. pavements totally blocked with groups of what are evidently foreign schoolchildren who wouldn’t move to let me plus two small grandchildren and buggy pass - we had to walk in the road.

Not long ago Gdd1’s primary school choir was singing in Christchurch Cathedral, so we were allowed in for free to the college area, where there were masses of Chinese tourists, who’d evidently largely come to see the splendid dining hall, which was featured in one (or more) of the Harry Potter films.

However one of the college staff told us that they pay £20 each for entry, and the college needs the money for the upkeep of
its stunningly beautiful buildings and grounds. Swings and roundabouts I suppose….

I totally agree, if a country objects to visitors from other countries then we should all stop going. When the hotels and stores start closing down due to lack of tourists they will know who they have to blame.