While residents in Barcelona used plastic water pistols to push back against a surge of tourists, locals in Santiago de Compostela chose a softer strategy. A neighbourhood association there created a “good manners” guide for visitors, reminding them to lower noise levels, follow traffic rules, and attach plastic tips to their hiking poles to protect the cobblestone streets. The guide, translated into multiple languages, was distributed across hostels and posted in different areas of the northwestern Spanish city, which is the endpoint of the Catholic world’s most renowned pilgrimage.

 

The problem, however, goes beyond etiquette. The sheer volume of visitors has transformed Santiago’s old town and the squares near the cathedral, believed to hold the tomb of Saint James the Apostle. Once central to community life for centuries, these spaces are now dominated almost entirely by outsiders. The growing influx has displaced many residents, turning Santiago into the latest global destination struggling with the consequences of over-tourism.

 

“We do not oppose tourism. We have always coexisted with it,” explained Roberto Almuina, president of the neighbourhood association in the city’s UNESCO-listed old quarter. “But when visitor pressure exceeds reasonable limits, that is when rejection emerges.”

 

Pilgrimage turned tourist draw

 

The Camino de Santiago, or the Way of Saint James, dates back to the 9th century. Pilgrims travel from Portugal, France, and other regions, walking hundreds of kilometres before arriving in Santiago. The route’s popularity surged after the 2010 release of the film The Way starring Martin Sheen, and has been boosted further in recent years by social media and the rise of experience-driven tourism after the pandemic.

 

To curb the strain, Santiago’s city council banned Airbnb-style tourist rentals in its historic centre last November, citing an urgent need to protect the limited housing stock and control rising rents.