At a time when protests grow in Spanish territory, there is a city that faces an increasingly common dilemma in historical cities: how to reconcile mass tourism with the quality of life of its inhabitants. To respond to this challenge, the municipality has approved a new ordinance that seeks to wage excesses, imposing boundaries unpublished on the size of tourist groups, restricting the so -called free tours and creating officially “saturated” zones.
The measure, approved for the city of Toledo, was approved by the local coalition formed by the Popular Party and Vox and is seen as a shy but pioneering step. At stake are three areas of the historic center of Toledo: Hombre de Palo Street, Plaza del Consistorio and Pasadizo Balaguer, which now have specific rules for controlling the crowds. The executive justifies the decision with the need to balance the economic benefits of tourism with the right of residents living in decent conditions, according to the Spanish newspaper El País.
Residents feel surrounded by tourists
Mari Carmen Zamorano, residing in one of the narrowest streets of the Historic Center, reports situations where tourists criticized him for trying to get the car in his own garage. “There are tourists who told me that I should live in another place. You feel that she stretches in your own city,” he told the same source.
The problem of mass tourism is aggravated by festive times, such as Christmas or Corpus Christi, when the influx of visitors makes the circulation almost impossible. José, Mari’s neighbor three decades ago, shares frustration: “We often can’t even pass the street. Tourists think this is a museum and that no one lives here,” he adds.
Traditional trade loses space
Touristification, coupled with the gentrification and proliferation of short -term accommodation, has caused the disappearance of traditional trade. Many inhabitants eventually abandoned the center. Mamen Navarro, who has been managing a men’s clothing store for 40 years, does not hide the indignation with mass excursions: “These groups consume nothing and only take up space. It seems to me to regulate.”
Despite complaints, Navarro relativizes the impact by comparing toledo with large cities like Madrid or Barcelona. For themselves, the problem is not in the number of tourists, but in the kind of consumption they do: “I live tourism, but it needs to be of quality. I come to car every day and just give a whistle that people move away.”
Tighter rules for groups
The new ordinance requires tourist groups to run in line on the narrow streets, not blocking entrances to houses and stores and facilitating the passage of residents with shopping or baby trolleys. It also establishes the prohibition of the use of megaphonies from 23h00, in order to ensure the night rest of residents, the same source says.
Another central point is the obligation of individual audio audio systems in groups with more than 30 people, except in the case of school excursions. Groups may also, under exceptional circumstances, reach 50 participants, but only with authorization from the Mobility Department.
Free tours in the sight of the new law
Among the most affected are the guides of the so -called free tours, tips guided through tips, which represent about 10% of tourist visits in the city. Legislation prohibits the use of colorful-hat-hats as a form of advertising, measured long required by official guides associations.
Silvia Pérez Verde, guides spokesman Free Tour in Toledo, cited by the same source, considers that this ban is an attack on a sustainable tourism model. “The families and friends who participate in these visits eat, buy and sleep in the city. We are not the problem,” he argues. Still, operators require that, in return, a public road occupation rate will be attributed similar to that of the terraces, so that they can continue to work legally.
Fines up to three thousand euros
The municipality made it clear that the rules will be to comply. The new ordinance provides for fines that can reach three thousand euros for those who violate the rules, whether blocking tickets, using improper megaphony or disrespecting the limit of participants per group.
Still, residents and traders point out that the root of the problem is in mass tourism, brought by buses who visit several cities in one day, leaving little economic return in Toledo, says. While some see in the law a first step to recover the city, others are afraid that it falls short to lock the tourist pressure on the historic center.
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