From little Siurana to Venice: the tourist destinations that do not want more visitors

A small nucleus of just 30 houses, five bars, two hotels, a castle and a church set on a limestone cliff and surrounded by streams and ravines. With this idyllic landscape, the Tarragona town of Siurana has been the last municipality to reject the invitation to be part of the most beautiful towns in Spain. “We have overcrowding problems and we are at the limit of capacity to receive more visitors,” he declared to NIUS its mayor, Salvador Salvadó, to justify the decision. He worries that Siurana’s inclusion on the list will increase the influx of people in his town of 32 inhabitants, which already receives a thousand visitors every weekend. Like Siurana, more and more destinations are imposing measures to fight against unregulated overcrowding. From the Alhambra in Granada to the Snowdonia National Park in the United Kingdom, several regions are developing policies and legislation to limit the number of tourists in their territory. Alhambra in GranadaPIXABAYWith three million annual visitors, the Alhambra in Granada is the most visited monument in the country. Tickets have been limited there, which can only be booked from a website where the dates appear in different colors – green, red or black – depending on demand, each with a more expensive rate. Also in Spain, the Balearic Islands have frozen by decree for the next four years the creation of new hotel and holiday beds, which will be limited to 430,000. The goal is to promote higher value, lower volume tourism. Amalfi Coast, ItalyPIXABAYThe Italian city of Venice will introduce an entrance fee for all-day visitors over the age of six, a measure that had already been postponed several times and will finally be approved. The price will vary depending on the day and the expected number of people. In the same country, the SS163 road that connects all the cities of the Amalfi Coast, next summer the alternative license plate system will be imposed again to avoid traffic jams due to mass tourism in the area. License plates ending in odd numbers can only circulate on odd dates, and the same with even numbers. Even so, the locals consider this measure insufficient. This summer, the Calanques National Park in southeastern France introduced a reservation system for the Calanque de Sugiton, one of the most popular spots on the coast between Marseille and Cassis. Since then it has been necessary to reserve the entrance through an app or through the website. closest mountain to the popular Pyg Track. And at Giant’s Causeway on Northern Ireland’s Antrim coast, the director of responsible tourism has cut visitor numbers by 66% to improve the experience at what was the region’s busiest attraction.