“I did not intend to start a revolution,” declared Dani Romero, initiator of this movement which is gaining momentum in Spain. Having discovered that his apartment that he rents in Malaga, and in which he has lived for 10 years, was now going to become tourist accommodation, Dani Romero first shared his anger on social networks by creating stickers with salty slogans against tourists, as reported by The Guardian.
“It seems to me a very peaceful way to protest,” he told our colleagues. “There is no organization or political party behind this. It’s the residents who are fed up because it’s a subject that concerns absolutely all of us.”
Stickers then flourished in Malaga, with more or less abrupt slogans. “It was my house”, “a family lived here” or “go home” or “it stinks of tourists”. The formula is preceded each time by the initials “AT” for “tourist apartment”. Residents denounce overtourism which drives up rental prices.
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Stickers have now multiplied in several cities in Spain, including Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. In Malaga, a recent survey showed that the population was very concerned about the price of rentals, considered “very expensive” by 60% of those questioned, also notes the Guardian. 80% of those questioned, however, noted that tourism has a “positive” or even “very positive” impact.
“I’m 48 years old, I have a high income, some money saved and I can’t find a house. What is the situation for people aged 25?”, also indignant Dani Romero, still in The Guardian. The Malaga resident owns a bar, and recognizes that tourism nevertheless brings him a large clientele. “I have nothing against tourism […] but we have to regulate it – me and half the city cannot continue like this.”
He also reports having visited an apartment which required a deposit of 40,000 euros or another which required a check for 200 euros just to visit it. The city of Malaga recently rejected legislation that defined the rental market as “under pressure”, which would have allowed authorities to implement rent caps.
In France, the question of rent control is also topical in several cities such as Lyon, where the environmentalist municipality has decided to act against exacerbated real estate tension, particularly in small areas.
In Paris, rent control was made possible on an experimental basis by the ELAN law of 2018. It prohibits landlords from asking tenants for an amount greater than a given sum, varying according to neighborhood depending on the state of the market. . The capital is also the object of much desire in the run-up to the Olympic Games, during which Parisian owners will be likely to derive significant income from the rental of their apartment.
