Many people leave towels and sunbeds on the beach early in the morning, sometimes even during the night, to ensure that the best places are waiting for them when they come to swim. This practice bothers the locals and many families with children tourist places , but rarely anything is done about it.
The mayor of the Municipality of Tribunj, a coastal town not far from Vodice in Croatia, decided to put an end to such "reservations" of places on the beach and organized the collection of left towels, sunbeds, umbrellas, writes Nova.rs.
In a post on Facebook, he wrote: “We are returning towels, rugs, lounge chairs and folding chairs. Just a small detail. We return items with a payment slip for unauthorized use of maritime property. From 11:00 a.m. to 13:00 p.m., report to the municipal police department," he wrote.
He has carried out these actions before, but without payment.
"We do it every year. So far this year, we haven't, because we thought that people had learned, but observing the situation on the beaches, because I go to work across the beach, I see that it is getting worse and worse. So we agreed yesterday evening that we will do that action today. In about half an hour to 45 minutes of collection, we filled the entire van with material," Grubelić told za Vecernji list.
And in Barcelona, a protest against tourism
Recently, residents of Barcelona also protested about tourism, and they told tourists: "Go home."
Due to tourism, rents in this city have increased by 18 percent compared to last year, and a similar problem is affecting Madrid.
The police estimated that around 2.800 people participated in the protest, while the organizers claim that there were around 20.000.
Demonstrators carried banners with inscriptions such as: "Barcelona is not for sale", *Enough! Let's limit tourism," and there were verbal clashes that ended quickly, El Pais reported.
During the protest, many tourists also fell, who were sprayed with water from water guns by the demonstrators.
In Barcelona, according to data from 2019, 17,3 million visitors spend the night in the city and another 10,5 million overnight outside the city, but spend the day on the streets of Barcelona.
Because of the tourists, part of the landscape of Barcelona has changed, from shops to tourist apartments, while there is discomfort due to the problem of coexistence with the residents of certain neighborhoods.
On the other hand, businessmen and the City Assembly remind that tourism brings 14 percent of the city's GDP and more than 150.000 jobs.
