Warning for Brits heading to eight European countries fighting back against tourists

Unrest across Europe over negative impacts of tourism has grown at a rapid pace over the past few months, resulting in many destinations to implement restricting measures on tourists — full list here

Across Europe communities are fighting back against the harsh impacts of over-tourism.

Whether it’s town squares that are becoming unbearably packed during the high summer months or rents sent skywards by the arrival or more and more holiday let apartments, people lucky enough to live in Europe’s holiday hotspots are beginning to say ‘enough is enough’.

With increased unrest towards tourists, many governments have been forced to take action in order to protect their country’s historic and cultural attractions, and appease residents. Here is a rundown of countries in Europe that have implemented new measures to combat high numbers of visitors.

Italy

Italy has been implementing different measures for the past couple of years to battle the impact of over-tourism. In Venice, UNESCO warned that there may be “irreversible damage” to the historic centre and therefore an entry fee was introduced for day visitors.

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Anyone who now visits Venice for the day will be charged €5 (£4.30) through the summer months. The city also banned cruise ships from the centre in 2019, after there was an incident in which a cruise liner hit a dock. The canals that weave through the historic city have also introduced rules specific to the use of the canals, including a ban on loudspeakers and limiting group sizes to no more than 25 people.

In Portofino, fines have been introduced for tourists who talk selfies in viral Instagram spots as they may be creating a dangerous situation. Red zones and ‘no waiting’ areas were also introduced to prevent traffic jams and congested pavements during the peak season from April to October.

For the island of Capri, there has been a proposition to create a barrier of buoys to stop boast from sailing too close to the island. The proposed barrier would include 40 buoys, around 100 metres offshore and would stretch 3.7 miles around the island’s western coast. The plans that were put forward this month, were noted by the mayor of Anacapri, Franco Cerrotta, as a protection for children who swim in areas off the shore.

The capital city, Rome, has also introduced some new rules. Slightly more on the bizarre side, tourists are no longer allowed to be topless in the city, eat ‘messy’ food or leave a love padlock. If a tourist was to commit one of these actions, they could potentially face a hefty fine or even become banned from attractions like the Trevi Fountain.

In Sardinia, travellers have been discouraged from and warned to not walk on the pink sands of Spiaggia Rosa. If they were to step foot on the vibrant-coloured sand, they could face a fine ranging from €500 (£428) up to €3,500 (£2,993). The ban is not new though — the Budelli Island beach ban was actually first introduced 30 years ago following concerns that tourists could pose a threat to the micro-organisms living on the shore, which are responsible for the beach’s colour.

More recently, Sardinia capped the number of tourists allowed at five of its beaches. Each of the five beaches had a capacity of 60 people and each were charged €3 per day. In June, Florence banned the use of Airbnbs and short-term private holiday rentals in its city centre. The UNCESCO World Heritage Site has around 11,000 short-term private rental properties, meaning that properties for residents has depleted.

New rules limiting the number of overnight guests in Trentino Alto Adige could make it more difficult for holidaymakers to find accommodation in the Italian region’s areas of natural beauty including a famed glacial lake, Lago di Braies. Visitors now heading to Trentino Alto Adige will be capped at the 2019 levels in an attempt to combat ‘over-tourism’ at top attractions including the Alpe di Siusi.

Greece

As a popular holiday spot it is no surprise that Athens has begun to introduce over-tourism measures. The number of people visiting the Acropolis was caped at 20,000 per day from September 2023. In a desperate attempt to reduce the amount of people travelling to the ancient monument, visitors now have to book a time slot in advance.

The islands of Santorini and Mykonos have also introduced measures to reduce the number of cruise shops that can call at the islands. The relatively new measures mean that there would be a cap to cruise liners and therefore reduce the footfall of thousands of passengers on the Cycladic Islands.

Austria

In the Austrian town of Hallstatt, measures have been taken to reduce the number of tourists visiting the picturesque area by constructing wooden fences that obscure lakeside views of areas that are popular picture spots. The town is a protected UNESCO site, but averaged at 10,000 visitors a day – prompting the town’s mayor to cap the number of tour buses and cars allowed to enter the town.

The Netherlands

The latest measures of Amsterdam’s campaign against ‘over-tourism’ include placing a limit on the number of river cruises that enter the Dutch capital’s waterways. There are also plans to reduce overnight visitors by banning the construction of new hotels. Other proposals include a restriction on the way tourists enter and stay in the city.

Cruise ships were banned from docking in the city centre last year and Brits were urged to “stay away” by authorities in Amsterdam after there had been multiple instances of antisocial behaviour during stag parties and pub crawls. In a rather smart campaign last year, whenever Brits search the internet for terms such as ‘stag party Amsterdam’ or ‘pub crawl Amsterdam’, a warning video would pop up.

Spain

The far stretching implications of ‘over-tourism’ have been at the centre of politics in Spain for months now, leading to new restrictions and rules being enforced.

In Barcelona, a municipal tourist tax was introduced, ranging from €5.25 to €6.75 per night. The surcharge is on top of the general nightly tourist tax (now €3.50) paid to the region and means that five-star hotel guests could be forced to pay an additional €47.25 (£41) per seven-night stay.

Barcelona was another city to cut the number of cruise ships able to visit, last year. More recently, the Catalan capital also pledged to eradicate short-term tourist rentals including Airbnbs by the end of the decade and introduce strict new measures to restrict souvenir shopping and displays in “bad taste”.

Elsewhere, in Seville, visitors will soon be charged to enter the historic Plaza de España under new plans to tackle ‘over-tourism’ in the southern Spanish city. In Majorca, several anti-tourism protests have dominated the summer season and are expected to continue until new measures are put in place by authorities.

France

The French tourism minister, Olivia Gregoire, recently presented a roadmap to combat ‘over-tourism’, including measure to regulate tourism flows and supporting local authorities experiencing visitor surges last June. Key tourist attractions like the Mont-Saint-Michel abbey in Normandy and the Louvre Museum in Paris, were at risk of becoming overwhelmed by visitors last year.

UK

Surprising, the UK is also on this list. Cornwall has annually experienced floods of visitors and now some Cornish holiday lets are facing a compulsory registration proposal. Last March, the government also proposed a £160 millon crackdown on “problematic” behaviour.

Croatia

Dubrovnik in Croatia has introduced new measures for holidaymakers attending the UNESCO World Heritage city, including bans on walking around in swimwear, driving without special permission, eating and drinking around cultural monuments and climbing on the city walls. All of the above offences are punishable by fines and criminal charges. Visitors to Dubrovnik must also pay €2.65 (£2.25) per person, per night from April to September, each year.