It’s not just a Spanish problem. Cities across the world are struggling with how to cope with overtourism and a boom in short-term rental platforms, like Airbnb, but perhaps nowhere has surging discontent been so evident as in Barcelona, where protesters plan to take to the streets on Sunday.

Similar demonstrations are slated in several other Spanish cities, including on the Balearic islands of Mallorca and Ibiza, as well as in the Italian postcard city of Venice, Portugal’s capital Lisbon and other cities across southern Europe — marking the first time a protest against tourism has been coordinated across the region.

Spaniards have staged several large protests in Barcelona, Madrid and other cities in recent years to demand lower rents. When thousands marched through the streets of Spain’s capital in April, some held homemade signs saying “Get Airbnb out of our neighborhoods.”

  • faintwhenfree@lemmus.org
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    3 days ago

    I think Singapore handles it well, any residential property can only be rented for minimum of six months, less than six months and it must be registered a commercial property and be in a zone that allows commercial activity.

    It doesn’t ban AirBnB specifically, but it solves this problem.

    • barneypiccolo@lemm.ee
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      2 days ago

      My parents live in a gater community that prohibits rentals of less than 6 months. The community is gated to keep outsiders out, so allowing unverified strangers to rent a house for a night or a weekend would violate the most basic reasons for the neighborhood to exist.

        • barneypiccolo@lemm.ee
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          2 days ago

          Not at all, my parents have neighbors of every type. Definitely NOT a segregated neighborhood, but they don’t like outsiders wandering the streets. The result is almost no crime at all of any kind.

          • PumpUpTheJam@lemmy.world
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            1 day ago

            You’ve just described a segregated community in trying to explain it is not a segregated community.

            • barneypiccolo@lemm.ee
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              1 day ago

              It’s segregated in that you have to be 55+ to live there. Race or religion definitely isn’t a factor.