Crisis in Spanish city loved by Brits as tourists sprayed with water guns - told 'go home'

Anti-tourism protesters in one of Spain's most popular holiday cities appear to have chosen their weapon of choice - cheap plastic water guns - to attack visitors. Earlier this week, a group of tourists enjoying some drinks at an outdoor table in Barcelona were squirted by a woman who is among the growing number of residents frustrated by overtourism.

The phenomenon first surfaced last July, when a fringe, left-wing Barcelona-based activist group that promotes the "degrowth" of the city's booming tourism sector held its first successful rally. During the event, participants brought water guns to shoot one another to stay cool. However, some turned their water guns on the tourists, and the images went viral, becoming a publicity coup for the anti-tourism cause. This move was criticised by Spain's Tourism Minister Jordi Hereu, who said their actions were reprehensible.

"What happened later went viral, but in reality it was just kind of a joke by a group of people who brought water guns because it was hot," Adriana Coten, one of the organisers of Neighbourhood Assembly for Tourism Degrowth, told AP.

The water pistols then reappeared in the Catalan capital this April, when the same group stopped a tour bus.

Then, last Sunday, around a thousand people marched through the city, spraying unsuspecting visitors, before they were stopped by police near Barcelona's top landmark, La Sagrada Familia. During the demonstration, they chanted slogans and carried placards reading: "One more tourist, one less resident!" and "Tourists Go Home".

They also left stickers on hotel doors, lamp posts and outdoor café tables, sporting a water gun encircled with the message: "Tourist Go Home!"

It should be noted, however, that those armed with the plastic weapons are a minority, and many who were carrying them were shooting into the air or at each other.

Protester Lourdes Sánchez and her teenage daughter, who were each carrying a water gun, said it "really isn't to hurt anyone."

"This is a symbol to say that we are fed up of how tourism industry is transforming our country into a theme park," she added.

Laurens Schocher, a 46-year-old architect, said he while he had not shot any tourists, he hoped that carrying a water gun would bring more attention to their cause.

While some tourists joked that being sprayed was refreshing during the 30C heat, others, including Nora Tsai from Taiwan, said she was left frightened and saddened by the incident.

"I still like Barcelona," she said. "I have met a lot of people who were kind."