There were 15.7 million tourists in the city in 2025 — that’s the threshold. Sixteen million is the maximum," said Donaire.

Recent street demonstrations saw residents carrying banners urging visitors to return home, citing sharp increases in housing costs and reduced availability of residential long-term rentals.

"Barcelona has been handed to the tourists," said Andreu Martínez, a resident of Barcelona. "This is a fight to give Barcelona back to its residents."

Municipal leaders maintain the strategy aims to reshape tourist demographics toward cultural and business travelers rather than eliminate tourism entirely.

"It’s important to us that any resident can buy a loaf of bread, a book or a screw in their neighborhood," said Donaire.

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He added a further observation regarding commercial urban balance: "We also believe that tourists will be more interested in a city where urban space isn’t entirely souvenirs, phone cases and kebabs."

Carmel-by-the-Sea's Funding Cuts and Resident Anger

Concurrently, in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California, city leaders recently cut almost $300,000 in annual funding from regional tourism bureau See Monterey following public discontent over traffic gridlock and residential parking saturation after the complete reopening of Highway 1.

"They’re angry about it, frankly," said Hans Buder, Council Member of Carmel-by-the-Sea. "They feel like there’s too much tourism, there’s overtourism."

The coastal city of 3,200 residents relies on visitor spending for 60 percent of its annual budget, with municipal hotel-tax revenues rising 12 percent to a record $9.3 million during the previous fiscal year.