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Santiago de Compostela, the Spanish city that is the culmination of the eponymous pilgrimage route and purported grave of Saint James, is facing the growing problem of overtourism common in many European destinations.
In contrast to some Barcelona residents who attempted to deter tourists with plastic squirt guns, a local group in Santiago has adopted a more hospitable strategy.
They created a courtesy guide for visitors to their city, translated into multiple languages and distributed across Santiago and its increasing number of hostels.
Unfortunately, the majority of tourists have not taken heed of these messages.
Santiago de Compostela’s tourism pressures reach a critical point
The Camino de Santiago, or Way of St. James, has origins in the 9th century, attracting pilgrims who traverse its trails from Portugal and France, covering distances of up to several hundred kilometers.
The 2010 film “The Way” starring Martin Sheen helped modernize its appeal; however, social media and experience-based travel have more recently intensified visitor numbers following the end of the coronavirus pandemic.
In the past year, a record half-million individuals committed to hiking an approved path to the cathedral, now five times greater than the city’s residential population, equating to a 725-fold increase over the past four decades. To this figure, we must also account for ordinary tourists not arriving as hikers of the trail.
The guide emphasizes manners such as lowering noise levels, respecting traffic laws, and using protective plastic sleeves on walking poles to preserve the cobblestone streets.
Regrettably, these efforts seem ineffective. Loud groups continue to occupy streets singing, bikes move contrary to traffic flow, and metal pole ends scrape noisily over the ground.
Social media in Santiago is full of posts criticizing the lack of decorum among tourists.
The primary offense, however, comes from the high number of tourists. The old town and adjacent plazas around the cathedral — which supposedly holds the tomb of Saint James the Apostle and was the heart of city life for centuries — are today almost exclusively populated with outsiders, whose influx has displaced the locals.
This situation has made Santiago the latest global site where long-time residents feel bitter about the overtourism changing their community.
“We don’t have an issue with tourism. We have always lived peacefully with it, but when it goes beyond what is reasonable, that’s when objections arise,” commented Roberto Almuíña, the president of a neighborhood association in the old town, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Finding accommodation in Santiago de Compostela is challenging
From 2018 to 2023, the increasing prevalence of short-term rentals in Santiago de Compostela led to a 44% annual rise in rent prices, as per a study commissioned by the city council from the Fundación Universidad da Coruña.
This led the municipal authorities to request, in May, the regional government classify the area as a high-pressure zone, akin to Barcelona or San Sebastian, which would aid in controlling rent increases.
In fact, last November, the city council of Santiago prohibited short-term tourist accommodations in the historic center, stating that it was “a necessity due to its significant growth, impacting the number of housing units available to residents and their price.”
Sihara Pérez, a researcher at the University of Santiago, stated that securing a rental in the city is “mission impossible,” while Antonio Jeremías, 27, considered moving back in with his mother since his full-time warehouse salary is insufficient.
Andrea Dopazo, 32, aimed to relocate from her parents’ home in a neighborhood 5 kilometers from the center, but despite her wish to reside in the place she grew up and her strong community ties, she could not secure a place. She ultimately had to move to a town outside Santiago.
“Only individuals fortunate — or unfortunate — enough to inherit an apartment from grandparents, uncles, or parents can remain in the neighborhoods,” said Dopazo, who is in human resources.
Protests against unaffordable housing are widespread across Spain, with many linking the housing crisis to tourists seizing short-term rentals.
‘The city has become deserted’
In the old town, tourists can reside in small hotels in converted homes or in massive hostels that were once seminaries and are not subject to the ban.
However, some short-term rentals seem to be violating the restriction, with tenants picking up keys from lockboxes attached to buildings.
“While some adhere to the rules and others do not, this model significantly limits residential housing,” stated Montse Vilar from another neighborhood group, Xuntanza.
Santiago’s City Hall stated that it is “doing everything possible to enforce the rules” and takes action whenever it identifies a case of an apartment rented out to tourists being used in violation of the rules.
The historic center’s population has decreased by half from 2000 to 2020, now reduced to merely 3,000 residents who “resist like the Gauls” behind the strong facades of their buildings, as Almuíña put it.
There are no hardware stores or newsstands left, and only a single bakery remains. Several grocery stores share space with cafes, ice cream parlors, and souvenir shops.
“The city has been emptied out. A simple walk can show that all we have are closed, abandoned buildings falling apart,” Almuíña added.
‘The spiritual aspect sometimes seems to be lost’
This year may see a new record for pilgrims reaching Santiago.
This increased tourism is souring Santiago’s residents on the city’s economic model centered on tourism. According to a study by Rede Galabra, a research group on cultural studies at the University of Santiago, half of the residents rejected this model in 2023, up from just over a quarter a decade earlier.
Some pilgrims also note a difference. Spanish individuals Alvar Castaño and Alé Osteso, who met on the path four years ago and have returned annually since, observed:
“The Camino is increasingly known; many more people are coming,” said Osteso one morning after concluding their hike, among groups of touristic pilgrims in brightly colored, coordinated outfits and families taking photographs.
“Sometimes the sense of spirituality appears to be a little lost.”