Tourism is increasingly being blamed for many of Alicante’s problems, from overcrowded streets and rising rents to the disappearance of traditional shops. Yet attacking an industry that generates around 30 per cent of the province’s GDP is dangerously short-sighted. The real question is not whether Alicante has too many tourists, but whether it has too many ineffective tourism managers.
Visitors are not responsible for Santa Bárbara Castle’s walls remaining closed since 2022. Nor are they to blame for the unrepaired damage to Alicante City Hall, the shortage of shaded areas in the city centre and on Tabarca, or streets that are sometimes left overflowing with rubbish. These are failures of management, investment and public administration.
Residents have every right to protest about overcrowding and the pressures created by tourism. However, it is worth remembering that many of the services local people value—including year-round flights from Alicante-Elche Miguel Hernández Airport—depend on the same visitors they are being encouraged to resent. The airport supports thousands of direct and indirect jobs while connecting the province with destinations across Europe and beyond.
The loss of bookshops, family-run stores and traditional neighbourhood bars is regrettable, but tourist apartments and their occupants cannot be held solely responsible. The decline of local retail has far deeper causes.
Large shopping centres have drawn trade away from town centres, while low-cost stores and online platforms have transformed consumer habits. Many people now visit shops only to inspect or try products before purchasing them online at a lower price. Independent businesses cannot easily compete with multinational retailers and digital marketplaces offering cheap imitations and rapid delivery.
Local and regional authorities also bear responsibility for allowing historic centres to become dominated by hospitality chains, franchises and short-term accommodation. Entire apartment buildings are increasingly converted into holiday rentals, while permanent residents may find themselves living beside properties whose occupants change every few days. It is not the tourists who authorise the changes in planning uses.
This rapid expansion has helped fuel what has become known as “tourismphobia”. The phenomenon was first widely associated with Barcelona, but it has since spread to Madrid, Mallorca and tourist municipalities throughout the Valencian Community.
Alicante, Benidorm, Dénia, Xàbia and Torrevieja are among the destinations feeling the pressure. According to figures cited by the sector, the number of beds offered through rental properties in the region’s principal tourist destinations has risen dramatically during the past four years.
The province is estimated to have almost 90,000 holiday apartments. While hotels provide around 90,000 beds, tourist rentals are said to offer approximately 600,000 places across some 170,000 properties. The scale of this largely platform-driven market presents a serious challenge to regulated hotels and legitimate accommodation businesses.
The answer, however, is proper regulation rather than hostility towards visitors. Online platforms should be required to advertise only legally registered properties. Without that basic safeguard, enforcement becomes extremely difficult and unlicensed accommodation continues to operate beyond effective oversight.
The economic consequences of mishandling tourism would be severe. Tourism accounts for an estimated 15 per cent of Alicante city’s economy and employment, producing more than €1 billion in GDP. Across the Costa Blanca, residential tourism—including property purchases and holiday rentals—generates an estimated €11 billion annually.
Around €6 billion is attributed to spending by foreign owners of second homes, with a further €5 billion linked to the rental of apartments, villas and other holiday properties. The sector supports an estimated 400,000 direct and indirect jobs across Alicante province.
Unlike regions with major industrial manufacturing bases, the Costa Blanca depends heavily on tourism and international residents. Removing or seriously damaging that economic foundation would affect almost every sector, from construction and retail to restaurants, transport and professional services.
Nowhere is that relationship clearer than in Benidorm. Since the 1970s, the resort has built an extraordinarily strong connection with British holidaymakers, some of whom regard a few days there as synonymous with visiting Spain itself. That loyalty helped transform former agricultural land into one of Europe’s leading tourist destinations.
The pandemic demonstrated how vulnerable that success can be. In March 2020, aircraft turned back as Spain closed its borders and Benidorm’s economy abruptly stopped. The lessons learned during that period should not be forgotten.
Tourism must be better regulated, neighbourhoods protected and public services improved. But blaming tourists for decades of weak planning and inadequate enforcement solves nothing. It is not a visitor problem that Alicante suffers from. It is rather more a case of how that tourism is managed by both it’s politicians and it’s tourism professionals.
