Not Spain. We have a serious problem with tourists. Most people won't react in a positive way
this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2025
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Asklemmy
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As a Portuguese person, I'd advise you boycott Portugal at the moment, or at the very least avoid AirBnBs entirely โ sadly, they've increased to the point where, in many locations, the price of renting a house is higher than minimum wage. Furthermore, even in hotels, many staff get paid minimum salary โ a lot of them are immigrants, so they'll take anything. This means that, through tourism, the Portuguese people lose: rent becomes much higher, companies are incentivized to pay much less, and all of this is supported by the current government, which has refused to regulate AirBnBs and the like.
I do apologize about this rant; it just seems that you value morals & ethics more than average.
Oh my God, thank you for telling me!!
This sort of thing is a problem in many places, such as my nearest major US city. Unfortunate to hear that it's a problem where you are too.
I feel like Portugal got caught off guard by its recent spike in tourism, but it doesn't want to completely quash it yet due to the relatively poor economy without it.
I'm French... go to Spain! There's incredible architectural diversity and the people are generally very good vibes (I guess they're anti-touristy nowadays, lol, but still!), plus things are at least 20-25 percent cheaper there. Oh, and also the Spanish government is the only Western country (correct me if I'm wrong, and hypocrisy like the UK saying something nice and then intervening for Israel doesn't count...) who has made any sort of anti-imperialistic remarks regarding Gaza! I'd like to believe it's a reflection of today's Spanish population. ๐
Ireland as well?
I'm sorry, I forgot about them!
Its very common to see ~~Gaza~~ flags in Spain.
Edit: Palestine flags of course.
I feel like rich culture and kind people exist everywhere, and every government is corrupt.
But France. The Spanish and Portuguese hate tourists.
The French had a massive protest in Paris regarding over tourism.
Yeah tourism sucks the life out of every city, and personally I never understood wanderlust but I was forced to move around as a child.
I've never understood tourism but I understand wanting to visit other countries if that makes sense.
I want to go to Spain, China, Mexico, etc, but I don't want to be a "tourist" in a "tourist area".
Should go to france. Spain and Portugal are both done with tourists and you may have a bad time after all the summer caos
I've seen several articles about protests against tourists in Spain. I didn't bother to read the articles, but I think it's about housing prices being driven up because of air bnb. So maybe stay in a hotel if you go there?
is also many outsiders buying houses for investment. The prices are so high almost nobody can buy a house and is very serious problem
Not France, on account of the French.
On a serious note, I lived in rural France for a few years and the ridiculous bureaucracy, the lackadaisical attitude to everything, and the 4 hour breaks in the middle of the day drove me insane.
4 hours breaks in the middle of the day? I live in the bad part of France it seems, I'd love to have that.
This was St. Mathieu in Haute-Vienne. Most days everything was shutdown from around 11am until 2.30 / 3pm.
It'sโฆ in the middle of nowhere. Not the kind of place you go to have a busy life ๐
Almost none of that seems relevant for tourism. I also as a tourist in France on several occasions never noticed anything shutting down middle of the day, but I was never in rural France. I assume OP may not start their adventure in rural areas either.
But low key that sounds like an amazing place to take a relaxing vacation.
They're all just different. As a citizen, though, (dual, live elsewhere) I'm going to have to recommend Portugal.
Ahhh. Thank you! Portugal seems awesome!
All have a rich culture, all have kind people (though there will be jerks and how you act will matter), all have some level of govt corruption. Plan your trip around things you want to do or see. Festivals, places, etc.