Overcrowded beaches and protests: Vacation 2025 in Europe becomes a nightmare!

Overcrowded beaches and protests: Vacation 2025 in Europe becomes a nightmare!

Dubrovnik, Kroatien - Mass tourism in summer leads to problems in many European countries that considerably burden both the quality of life of the locals and the environment. Especially in the Mediterranean, where summer is the main travel time for many Germans, the negative effects are clearly noticeable. Overcrowded old towns, long waiting times and rising housing costs are common symptoms of residents in popular holiday regions. Graffiti with inscriptions such as "Tourists, Go Home" reflect the discomfort of the population, likeTravel reporterreported.

An analysis of the over-tourism index of "Evaneos" and "Roland Berger" has shown that 36 out of 77 examined travel destinations suffer from extreme overload between July and September. With the aim of reducing the tourist stress to a tolerable level, various measures are taken in the affected countries.

Affected travel destinations in Europe

• Croatia:Here 70% of tourists arrive in the summer months, with August alone 30%. Measures such as the limitation of cruise ships in Dubrovnik and temporary closures of footpaths should counteract overload.
• Montenegro:57% of travelers visited Montenegro in summer. Popular places are Budva, Velika Plaža and the Bay of Kotor.
• Bulgaria:Similar to Croatia and Montenegro, 57% of holidaymakers travel in the summer months, especially in front of the Black Sea coast.
• Greece:56% of the arrivals come here in summer and 22% appear in August. The problems are serious, from overcrowding and garbage to resource shortage. The government relies on new tourism concepts and restrictions on cruise ships to improve the situation.
• Italy:47% of international tourists visit Italy in the summer months. Places such as Venice, Rome and the Amalfi Coast are badly affected. Venice has been raising a fee of 5 euros for day visitors since April 2024 to regulate the flows of visitors.
• France:In France, 46% of vacationers travel between July and September. The authorities implement system for visiting quota in the Calanques and anchor bans for large yachts near the coast.

Protests and measures

The increase in tourism has also led to protests in many regions. In Tenerife, locals express their displeasure about the rents that rise through mass tourism, as well as the environmental pollution that he brings with it. In Barcelona, ​​the city administration plans to abolish all apartments by 2029 to secure the living space for locals. In Greece, citizens are fighting against illegal beach privatizations and for free access to beaches. The Greek government has already invested two billion euros in climate protection and sustainable tourism to meet the challenges.

Dubrovnik in Croatia also takes measures to counter mass tourism. Here the number of cruise ships that arises is limited and holiday apartments are banned in apartment buildings. In Copenhagen, on the other hand, initiatives such as "Greenkayak" are promoted to reward environmentally friendly behavior, which can be seen as a model for sustainable tourism, howZDFreported.

There are alternative travel destinations for travelers who want to avoid the overcrowded hotspots. Finland with its untouched nature, the Greek mainland with traditional villages, the Baltic Sea cities such as Riga and Tallinn as well as Madagascar, where authentic culture is in the foreground, offer quiet alternatives to the overflowing holiday destinations.