Jaume Collboni, mayor of Barcelona, took to social media during demonstrations to assure citizens of his council team’s “firm commitment to limiting mass tourism and its consequences”.

Collboni, a socialist, pointed to his plan to ban Airbnb-style rental properties by 2028. There are 10,000 licensed tourism apartments in Barcelona and an association representing owners has vowed to challenge his plan in the courts.

The mayor also said the city’s tourism tax would rise from €5.50 ($8.80) per night to €7.50 ($12).

Barcelona is the latest Spanish tourism hotspot where public protests against the impact of millions of visitors on locals’ quality of life have occured this year.

In Malaga last month, 15,000 people marched against overtourism in a city where licensed tourism apartments have swelled to 12,000 from less than 1000 in 2016.

In Palma de Mallorca, more than 10,000 marched in May against the lack of affordable housing due to the impact of tourism.

In April, some 55,000 people took part in the biggest-ever demonstrations against tourism in the major capital cities across the Canary Islands archipelago.

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Spain received a record 85 million foreign visitors in 2023 – an increase of 18.7 per cent from the previous year, according to the country’s National Statistics Institute. Only France received a higher number of international visitors.