Anti-tourism protests give second thought to next getaway

With anti-tourism protests breaking out in popular Mediterranean tourist destinations like Majorca, Ibiza, Barcelona and Venice, it’s making me think twice about where I want to spend my next getaway. And it’s also made me think about the type of accommodation to book. The anti-tourist protests by locals are directed at two fronts. One is literal overcrowding. Tourists were recently turned away at a famous Majorcan beach by police as locals were determined to occupy every square foot of it. Reports the UK Sun, "Anti-tourism protesters plan to bring the Balearic Islands to a standstill during the peak season for British holidaymakers. Activists hope thousands will join the biggest demonstration yet in the Spanish tourism hotspot on Sunday, July 21 — just as many UK schools break up for summer and families head for the sunshine." Needless to say, Brits like going to Spain. The other is that short-term accommodations like those on Airbnb, Vrbo and increasingly Booking.com are crowding out cheaper year-round housing for locals. Barcelona, which has seen rents jump 70 per cent in recent years, has just banned Airbnb’s. It’s obvious why a landlord would opt for short term vacation rentals over year-round housing because they can charge tourists more for that same property and have constant turnover. It was the opposite of where I stayed in Florida a few years ago. There, the owner, who had a block long campus of vintage cottages, converted to long term rentals because she couldn't handle the stress of constantly dealing with new tenants. My recent winter home has been in Spain, where protests have also sprung up in nearby Malaga. But, lucky me, I don’t stay in an Airbnb but in a “conventional” low key resort or apartment hotel. Suddenly, it’s made me feel more ethical! But my accommodation last fall in Athens was through Vrbo, a fantastic apartment two blocks from the Acropolis and within walking distance of teeming bars, restaurants, cafes and the city’s magnificent old town Plaka. Yes, I thought I might have gotten an evil eye from a neighbour. But I would book again, if available, and swallow my guilt. 

- Ron Stang, Windsor Ontario Canada, a frequent traveller

Walk With Israel event went off without a hitch including getting there and back

I joined the Walk With Israel march this weekend in Toronto, sponsored by the Toronto Federation Canadian Jewish Appeal, its 55th year but the turnout this year was absolutely spectacular. In the wake of the October 7 Hamas atrocities killing 1200 Israeli citizens and kidnapping some 250 more (120 remain hostages) the event took on added importance. Based on pre-registrations organizers were expecting at least 30,000. But 50,000 or more showed up on a bright sunny morning in midtown Toronto for the five kilometre walk up Bathurst St. to the CJA’s offices and Holocaust Museum in North York. Police presence was amazing. In fact, there were layers of security – Toronto and neighboring forces like Durham and Niagara, then flanks of private security and then volunteer marshalls. It was understandable given the violent attacks on the Toronto – and Canadian - Jewish community in recent months, including widespread vandalism, arson, fire bombings and shootings. And TO has always been a hotbed of radicalism, as witness the U of T so-called “encampment” by pro-Palestinian or Hamas demonstrators. Thankfully, the Walk went off without a hitch and surprisingly there were few counter-protesters. There was speculation anti-Israel types would try to disrupt the event. But all we saw were a few people at one residential intersection – always masked like Ninjas of course - half surrounded by about a dozen cops, and perhaps 100 people massed at the corner of Bathurst and Shepperd, with loudhailers, drumming and even setting off smoke. There were tons of police and things didn’t get violent. Most of the walkers simply ignored them. (There were several arrests of the counterdemonstrators I later read.) All in all, a fantastic day.

Was I scared attending the event. To be honest, a little. What I mostly feared wasn’t being in the Walk itself but travelling to and from, where I wouldn’t be protected by security. That meant boarding a subway at the Finch West station in north Toronto (North York)  and riding five stops to Lawrence West, where I walked several blocks to the march starting point. And after the Walk, walking several blocks up Bathurst to Finch and catching a bus west on Finch to the Finch West subway, where I’d parked my car. I made sure I was noticeable with my white Walk With Israel T-shirt and even a small Israeli flag attached to my hat. I wasn’t going to be intimidated. Hardly anyone noticed and I got a couple of muted sidelong glances, more curious than anything. I was surprised that a TTC worker congratulated me as I walked out of the Lawrence West station. On the way back, I carried my sign depicting a hostage (Avera Mangisto, 36) and made sure it was seen by others on the crowded bus, simply by turning it outward but not in anyone’s face. Again, no problem and a bit of curiosity, that’s all.

As for getting around Toronto and the TTC, it was easy to find a parking spot at the Finch West station public parking on a Sunday morning, and when there’s no charge. But I was surprised the station didn’t open until as late as 7.45 am. Fares were easy by purchasing though machines a Presto card for two return trips, which also could be used on the bus - no muss, no fuss.

- Ron Stang, Windsor Ontario Canada, a frequent traveller