Thousands of people in the Spanish city of M\u00e1laga turned out to protest against mass tourism on Saturday, angered at high rents and housing shortages.<\/p>\n
They marched in the centre of the southern city, many carrying signs saying, “M\u00e1laga is not for sale” and “This is not tourism, this is an invasion.”<\/p>\n
Some 25,000 people took part in the rally, the organizers said, though El Pa\u00eds newspaper reported 15,000 attended.<\/p>\n
The city is the latest in Spain to see such protests after similar demonstrations against the excesses of tourism were held in other places popular among holidaymakers including Mallorca, Barcelona and the Canary Islands.<\/p>\n
The rally in M\u00e1laga was one of the largest the city has seen in recent times, several Spanish media reports said.<\/p>\n
The protest was called by a tenants’ association, Sindicato de Inquilinos e Inquilinas, which said the ever-increasing number of visitors and holiday flats are the reason for the city’s housing shortage and other problems.<\/p>\n
“The city is suffering, the resentment is great. Above all, the housing problem had to be put on the table,” the organizers’ spokesman, Curro Machuca, said, according to El Pa\u00eds.<\/p>\n
M\u00e1laga has more than 12,000 legally registered holiday homes, more than any other Spanish city besides Madrid and Barcelona. In addition, many private holiday homes in M\u00e1laga and elsewhere are operated illegally.<\/p>\n
“The situation is untenable. It’s impossible to buy a house,” demonstrator Mar\u00eda Franco told El Pa\u00eds.<\/p>\n
Engineer Sonia Raya told the newspaper that she had recently viewed a windowless garage in M\u00e1laga that was being offered as a flat for a monthly rent of \u20ac600 ($642).<\/p>\n