Residents of the small dutch village of Dutch of Zandvoort – a place of tourists during the weekends – started using a curious tactic to try to scare off visitors: local citizens together began reporting on Google Maps, traffic app, blockages and street closures at the same time.
The high volume of notifications in the application makes the system understand that the blocks are real and indicate other routes for visitors. For the residents of the village, the purpose of the action is to protest against the local City Hall, so that the agency has effective measures against excess tourists and the lack of parking lots.
However, the manifestation had the opposite effect. “Disable Google Maps” plates and streets signaling instructions to find parking were installed by the city at the entrance of the city. In addition, the municipality spokesman said he talks to Google to remove information about false blocks.
Gert-Jan Buluijs, councilman of the municipality, said he was “very angry” with the situation and that false notifications bring “more chaos” and “traffic problems” to neighboring neighborhoods.
“Crisis” of tourists in Europe
The revolt of European citizens regarding excessive tourists is not exclusive to Zandvoort residents. In Barcelona, there are common marches of places against visitors.
The high amount of tourists directly impacts the cost of rents on the inhabitants, especially after lodging platforms as Airbnb become popular.
More radical protests expel tourists from commercial establishments with squirting water tuggles, and it is increasingly common to find, in targeted European cities, phrases such as “go back to your homes” or “You are not welcome here.”
In cities such as New York, Barcelona and Paris, lodging platforms like the Booking and one’s own Aribnb were regulated by local governments to curb the housing crisis established.
The crisis is due to the property owners of these cities to see short -time shorts for tourists a more profitable possibility – in perspective that visitors tend to be willing to pay a more expensive per day than rent for long seasons for local residents. The movement causes a reduction of real estate offers to the local population, causing the increase in prices.
At the level of comparison, Brazil, according to data published by the Brazilian Agency for International Tourism Promotion (Embratur), recorded in 2024, a flow of almost 6.7 million international tourists. New York City alone in the same period recorded approximately 13 million international visitors.
