Thousands of Spanish locals have taken to the streets to protest against overtourism in two popular holiday hotspots.

The number of anti-mass tourism protests have been growing in the world’s second-largest tourist destination country.

Thousands of locals gathered in the Spanish cities of Malaga and Cadiz on Saturday, accusing tourism of depriving the local population of affordable housing.

Under the slogan “Malaga to live, not to survive,” nearly 5,500 people, according to the sub-prefecture, gathered in the historic centre of the large Andalusian city of 570,000 inhabitants, a mecca for “sol y playa” (sun and beach) tourism.

At the call of around fifty local associations, they gathered with banners reading: “Ban on tourist accommodation” or “Salary of 1,300, rent of 1,100, how can you live?”

“The city has become an amusement park”, Quique, a 26-year-old protester, told AFP, expressing his concern about the “tourist accommodation that has irregularly taken the place of normal accommodation”.

The province of Malaga has the highest number of tourist accommodations in Spain – 39,000, including 6,500 in the city itself, according to the National Statistics Institute.

The city attracts large numbers of tourists and expat workers because of its dozens of beaches and its cultural offering, of which Picasso, born in the city in 1881, is the central figure.

In Cadiz, another Andalusian city, hundreds of people also gathered in the historic centre under the slogan: “One more tourist, one less neighbour”.

The port of Cadiz, located in the historic centre of this city of just 117,000 inhabitants, has become a popular destination for cruise ships, with 20 arriving in June, according to data from the local port.

The almost daily arrival of thousands of travellers is congesting the narrow streets of the old quarter.

In the 2010s, locals were already mobilising against overtourism, mainly in Barcelona.

But after the break caused by Covid-19, exasperation seems to have risen, as Spain welcomed a record 85.1 million foreign visitors last year.