Spain holiday warning: Popular destination announces crackdown on hotels as country's minister doesn't want cities to 'be a theme park'

Spain has announced that it will crackdown on holiday homes as the country’s housing minister says she doesn’t want Madrid to “be a theme park”. It comes as protests over “overtourism” sweeps across the popular holiday destination including the Canaries and Balearics. 

On Thursday (11 April), Spain’s housing minister Isabel Rodriguez said she would intervene over the housing crisis. Rodriguez said it was because it is “harming the right to access housing”. 

She added: “This is more than Operation Camp which is the largest ever public housing promotion and I don’t want the centre of Madrid to be a theme park, but to remain a city. We will act in a precise and targeted way because tourist rentals in some regions are an opportunity for tourist dynamism but it has to be regulated according to that diversity.” 

The move to clamp down on holiday homes and hotels comes as Lanzarote, Tenerife and Mallorca locals are furious over the lack of available housing for them amid an influx of tourists. Mass protests are set to take place across the Canary Islands on 20 April against “overtourism”. 

Some of the demonstrators have adopted the slogan "Lanzarote has a limit". They are protesting against the impact of tourist overcrowding but clarify that they do not oppose controlled and sustainable tourism. Locals argue that the influx of tourists has made housing inaccessible and has led to a backlog in health services, as well as issues with waste management, water shortages, and the overcrowding of protected areas. 

Planned protests will also be held in Tenerife from the Tenerife Friends of Nature Association (ATAN) group on 20 April. A spokesperson for the group explained to BirminghamLive: “The problem is due to the chosen model of mass tourism, which also attracts unscrupulous investments and investors and a tourist profile that is mostly disrespectful of the environment and the people who live on these islands.

“The number of tourists is too high for an island territory, in addition to digital nomads and European settlers who stay on the islands with incomes and purchasing power far higher than those of the islanders, so they have access to housing and land to the detriment of the local population. We need quality tourism that respects natural resources and does not continue to devour the territory of our archipelago. For this, we need rules that limit urban growth, to limit tourist growth, and to establish more areas subject to protection."

Earlier this month the president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, called for "common sense", adding that tourism is the "main source of employment and wealth" for the local economy and urging protestors to be “responsible”. He said that tourists "come to enjoy themselves, to spend a few days and to leave their money in the Canary Islands".