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TOURISM

Spain’s Vigo to fine beachgoers who ‘set up camp’ and dominate space

The city's mayor has warned that beachgoers who hog space on the beaches in the northern city could soon be hit with some pretty hefty fines.

Published: 29 August 2024 15:05 CEST
Spain's Vigo to fine beachgoers who 'set up camp' and dominate space
Tourists bask in the sun on the beach. Photo: JOSE JORDAN/AFP.

Local authorities in the city of Vigo in northern Spain are set to crackdown on beachgoers who set up camp and dominate space on the city’s beaches.

Vigo city council will prohibit the use of ‘windbreakers’ and other large objects used to block off and create private areas on the beach and will implement the rules with fines.

This was announced by the city’s mayor, Abel Caballero, who explained that the fines will range from €751 all the way up to €1,500 in the event of repeat offenders.

READ ALSO: Ten colourful characters you’re likely to spot at Spain’s popular beaches

According to the rules, it will be considered a serious offence to “camp, set up tents, canvas structures or similar” on the city’s beaches.

Posting on Twitter/X, Caballero stated that there has been a sudden increase in the number of people using them: “In view of the sudden proliferation of the use of windbreakers on Samil beach, Vigo city council carried out an information operation this morning to inform users.”

In recent weeks several examples of beachgoers hogging sand space have been uploaded to social media. 

Caballero also made clear that the many beachgoers who use windbreakers or other large objects to separate spaces do not do so to protect themselves from wind but rather to secure a spot on the beach and reserve it all day.

This mainly happens on the city’s famous Samil beach, the mayor added. He also suggested that large constructions and private areas can prevent lifeguards and emergency services from carrying out their work.

“The regulations prohibit obstacles so that lifeguards and rescue personnel can act. We are trying to fix this without imposing fines, but if this continues… we will impose fines,” he explained.

“It is a real shame what is allowed on the beaches these days,” said one Twitter/X user when uploading a picture of Samil beach split up by private areas running from the shoreline all the way to the promenade. 

Vigo, in northern Spain’s Galicia region, welcomes a large influx of tourists every year. It is particularly popular with Portuguese tourists and Spaniards from southern Spain moving north to try and escape the sweltering summer temperatures.

The debate about beach etiquette is nothing new in Spain, nor is tension between locals and tourists and wider discussion about Spain’s tourism model in general.

Some small towns in Andalusia in southern Spain have also threatened beachgoers with fines in recent years, and popular tourist destination Benidorm, in the Valencia region, has created so-called ‘security corridors’ on beaches to facilitate access in case of emergencies due to large crowds.

The crackdown in Vigo is further evidence of shifting attitudes in Spain towards tourism and the type of tourism it wants to attract. In recent months Spain has been swept by a series of anti-tourism protests, including in major cities like Madrid, Barcelona and Málaga, as well as traditional island destinations like the Canary and Balearic Islands.

READ ALSO: Should I cancel my trip to Spain because of the tourism protests?

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BARCELONA

Barcelona aims to keep tourist coaches out by quadrupling parking fee

Authorities in Barcelona continue to look for ways to deal with the Catalan capital's mass tourism problem, with the latest plan aiming to reduce the number of tourist buses in the city centre by charging them a lot more to park.

Published: 18 September 2024 10:47 CEST
Barcelona aims to keep tourist coaches out by quadrupling parking fee

Barcelona economic city councillor Jordi Valls has announced that Barcelona wants tackle the problem of tourist coaches by increasing the price of parking fees for them.

According to municipal data, parking in Barcelona currently has an average price of €20 per day for tourist buses. If the plan is approved, they will have to pay close to €80 instead.

Tourists who do not stay overnight in Barcelona do not usually appear in official figures, but the City Council estimates that they amount to around 10 million a year.

By comparison, annual overnight stays in hotels and tourist apartments in the city are around 12 million.

This mainly includes cruise passengers, but also those who are bused in for the day from other nearby locations.

According to data from the council, there are 156,000 coaches driving around in Barcelona every year, which equals an average of more than 40 per day. This has become a big problem, blocking traffic in some areas of the city, particularly surrounding the Sagrada Família and more recently Ronda Universitat.

The new proposal, dubbed Bus Zone 4.0 by the council, aims to limit the circulation of coaches to 70,000 in 2025 and plans on removing parking spaces for buses in Barcelona’s central areas.

The council wants to raise around €4 million annually from these parking fee increases, as well as discourage them from coming.

The fees must be included in modification of the 2025 tax ordinances, but this will require a majority vote and plenty of negotiations before it can be passed. 

If approved, it will become part of the Catalan government’s Measure for Tourism Management plan, which together a total of 55 measures with a budget of €254.7 million until 2027.

This will include continuing the Management Plan for High Traffic Spaces, which studies how to avoid the overcrowding of areas such as the Rambla or Sagrada Família. In addition, it includes the creation of a Citizen Return Fund for Tourism, the review of the tourist tax and the Special Urban Plan for Tourist Accommodation.

The last part includes the standout plan to get rid of all tourist apartments in Barcelona by 2028. But it also opens the door for unique hotels to open in the centre of the city, which could include more self-catering accommodation.

Barcelona has also recently introduced a new city tax, which will be in force from October.

The current fee is charged for up to seven nights and stands at €3.25 per night, but from October 2024, this will go up to €4 per night.

Tourists will pay this tax regardless of whether they stay in a bed and breakfast, on a cruise ship or at a five-star hotel. On top of this, visitors will also have to pay a regional tax on stays in tourist establishments.

This means that from this autumn, tourists to Barcelona will end up pay between €5 and €7.50 per night.

READ ALSO: Barcelona to crack down on tacky shops that ‘degrade’ city’s image

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