Barcelona, Salou and Lloret Address Tourist Overcrowding at Forum

The three main Catalan destinations have outlined their strategies for managing tourist pressure at the ACAVe forum, with record visitor numbers and growing citizen discontent.

The forum organised by the Corporate Association of Specialist Travel Agencies (ACAVe) brought together representatives from Barcelona, Salou and Lloret de Mar on 29 October to discuss how they are tackling tourist overcrowding. According to Hosteltur, the debate highlighted the differences between the destinations and the need to improve flow management.

Mateu Hernández, director of Turisme de Barcelona, defended that the Catalan capital is a success story in the transition from an industrial economy to a service-based one, using the tourist brand and air connectivity to attract investments. Data from the Barcelona Tourism Observatory indicates that the city surpassed 13.71 million tourists in 2025, a 7.8% increase from the previous year, and reached 37.8 million overnight stays (+1.5%). Hotel occupancy was at 80.7%, with an ADR of 177.4 euros and a RevPar of 143.1 euros.

Hernández highlighted that Barcelona receives 7 million day-trippers annually who do not stay overnight, coming from municipalities such as Salou, Lloret, or Sitges, a phenomenon not seen in other major cities. On peak days, the city records 15,000 cruise passengers daily. "The underlying problem is a matter of flow management," he stated.

"The underlying problem is a matter of flow management"

The director of Turisme de Barcelona also warned of the deterioration of public image: 32% of Barcelonians perceive tourism as a problem and 85% believe it is not well managed, despite the tourist tax funding municipal budgets. Therefore, he urged for better communication of the positive externalities, such as the 14 daily air connections with the United States, and warned that tensions in Barcelona could influence the tourism policy of all of Catalonia.

The mayor of Salou, Pere Granados, focused on municipal funding. With 33,000 registered inhabitants, the town absorbs 3 million tourists annually when including tourist accommodation. In 2025, it recorded 2.43 million tourists in hotels, campsites, and apartments (+4.78%), generating 8.6 million overnight stays (+4.2%). Hotel occupancy was at 82.5% and the RevPar was 80.3 euros.

Granados called for a resolution to municipal funding in Spain and stated that "the tourism party cannot be paid for by residents." As an example, he noted that Salou needs 14 million euros just for cleaning and waste collection aimed at the floating population. He also criticised the Catalan decree on Tourist Use Housing for its Barcelona-centric approach, which will force a reduction in supply on the Costa Daurada, labelling it a "disrespect to municipal autonomy."

"The tourism party cannot be paid for by residents"

On the Costa Brava, Lloret de Mar recorded 1.17 million tourists in 2025, with over 5 million overnight stays, an occupancy rate of 77.2%, and an ADR of 98.2 euros. The director of Lloret Turisme, Elisabeth Keegan, explained that the municipality has been applying a model of "collaborative governance" for over ten years. Since 2016, neighbourhood associations and the unions UGT and CCOO have participated in the Tourism Council to agree on strategies regarding seasonality, customer profile, and spending.

Keegan detailed that local promotion entities have had to redefine their role and take on crisis management such as pandemics, droughts, and floods, beyond communication.

Citizen discontent was a central theme. Juli Alegre, director of the Tourism Board of the Lleida Provincial Council, provided the perspective of inland destinations and warned of the danger of anti-tourism narratives. He stated that reputational deterioration was key in the failure of the bid for the Winter Olympics in the Pyrenees. "A historic opportunity was lost to equip the territory with vital communication infrastructures," he asserted.

"A historic opportunity was lost to equip the territory with vital communication infrastructures"

Although 80% of the province's population supports tourism activity, Alegre indicated that residents demand "better tourism" and that it is essential to think of the territory as "the best place to live."

In this context of social pressure, the vice president of ACAVe, Roser Morlà, proposed the possibility of finding a middle ground for coexistence. As a solution, José Antonio Donaire, the commissioner for sustainable tourism at the Barcelona City Council, advocated for more participatory management.