San Sebastian, a city in Spain, recently announced that it is planning to ban the construction of new vacation rentals and hotels in the country.

This is part of the city’s bid to foster a more sustainable approach to tourism in the region and the country as a whole.

According to sources, this measure could be levied as early as the upcoming year to take swift action.

San Sebastian is not the only city to be putting this plan into action. Another Spanish city, called Palma de Mallorca, took to banning Airbnb back in 2018 and became the first to do so.

This step was taken as an effort to contain tourism in the location, and various other measures have been levied across the continent.

San Sebastian

Every year, the Spanish city manages to attract a flock of tourists, mainly due to its ancient Basque culture. This is one of the reasons why the city is magnetic and appealing to many.

Consequently, Eneko Goia, the mayor of San Sebastian, went on to say that several areas of the city will be deemed to be saturated.

He went on to add that there are already numerous holiday accommodations for tourists in the city, and there is no need for more.

The mayor went on to say that not only will the construction of hotels be limited, but new businesses in the travel and tourism sector will be discouraged.

According to the mayor, this new measure would not have an impact on existing hotels and vacation rentals, but there is a high probability of higher room prices.

Overcrowding

The manager of San Sebastian Apartments, Inigo Etxebeste, added that formerly established hotels with a loyal client base would be safe from potential competition.

As a result, any new hotels or rentals that open in the city will be unable to compete, and all the incoming travelers will have to use the existing accommodations.

Etxebeste believes that this move is likely to worsen the issue of overcrowding in the city, especially during peak tourist season, but it is an unlikely outcome.

Despite the fact that a high volume of foreign travelers contributes a major chunk to the economy of the city, the government is determined to take this action.

This is because San Sebastian has a high ratio of tourists to residents, which comes to around ten tourists for every 100 locals.

Tourists

However, due to the city attracting a high volume of tourists every year, it has had to suffer some consequences.

Consequently, there has been a notable deterioration in the quality of local culture and cuisine, as informed by the General Urban Planning Plan.

Due to the relentless influx of foreign travelers, local residents have been unhappy, which has led to an increase in anti-tourism graffiti on numerous bridges and landmarks throughout the city.

Thus, with the new initiative, the government hopes to improve the quality of life of the residents of San Sebastian.

However, the authorities made sure to point out that they are not completely banning tourism but limiting it.