The Canary Islands have been inundated by a ‘record-breaking’ number of visitors so far this year, according to local authority figures.

It’s a blow to the thousands of residents who have come out in force to protest against overtourism and poor working conditions in the hospitality sector.

The archipelago is overwhelmed with holidaymakers in high season, which is putting a strain on local services, bumping up housing costs and threatening the natural environment.

On Tenerife, authorities have announced that a new eco-tax will be introduced next year to protect a popular national park.

Canary Islands see ‘record-breaking’ visitor numbers in March

The Canary Islands received more than 1.55 million foreign visitors in March, up 0.9 per cent on the record set in the same month last year.

The figures were released by the Canary Islands National Statistics Institute (INE) on Monday, which added that the total number of international tourists for the first quarter of 2025 was 4.36 million, an increase of 2.1 per cent year-on-year.

INE also found the first quarter saw ‘the highest spending figures on record’, according to local news site Canarian Weekly.

In March alone, foreign visitors spent €2.43 billion, up 4.5 per cent compared to the same month in 2024. While this may reflect increasing interest in the destination, it is also a result of inflation, industry analysts say.

Canary Islands overtourism protests fail to curb soaring visitor numbers

The tourist influx comes despite dozens of protests staged last year by Canary Island residents against mass tourism.

Similar demonstrations have already taken place this year. Over Easter, around 80,000 hospitality workers in Tenerife, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro walked out in a dispute with unions over pay.

On 18 May, the group Canarias Tiene Un Límite (the Canaries have a limit) has planned a protest taking aim at governments and institutions for ignoring the calls of residents to clamp down on visitor numbers.

Tenerife introduces new eco-tax for tourists

A small step has been taken by authorities on Tenerife to mitigate the adverse effects of mass tourism.

The island is introducing an eco-tax in 2026 for non-residents visiting the Teide National Park.

The UNESCO world heritage site has seen unsustainable visitor numbers in recent years, leading to environmental damage, including pollution and erosion.

Private car access to the natural landmark will also be restricted next year, with electric shuttle buses provided instead.

The revenue from the visitor tax will be used to fund conservation projects, Rosa Davila, President of the Tenerife Cabildo, said on Monday.

On Wednesday, 7 May, Roman Catholic cardinals from around the world will be locked inside the Sistine Chapel as the conclave – the storied process to elect a new pope – begins.

Rome and the Vatican City have seen a surge of visitors following the death of Pope Francis on 21 April.

Mourners queued long into the night outside St Peter’s Basilica to catch a glimpse of the pontiff lying in state, and thousands then lined the streets for his funeral procession.

Pope Francis’ death also triggered a series of religious procedures to prepare for his successor, and the world’s eyes are now trained on a chimney which will proclaim the election outcome.

Tourists who have booked to visit Rome in the coming days will experience the city during a rare historical moment, but they should also prepare for heavy crowds and closed attractions.

Here’s what to know about travel disruptions in Rome, or, if you’re planning a trip to witness some of the religious traditions, where you can participate in them.

When will the Sistine Chapel be closed?

Travellers to Rome in the next few weeks should still expect closures, visitor restrictions and crowds at some of the city’s main attractions.

Rome’s key tourist sites within the Vatican – the heart of the Catholic Church – are now absorbed by mourning and reelection procedures.

The conclave, a strictly confidential gathering of cardinals closed inside the Sistine Chapel, begins tomorrow.

As such, the room adorned by Michelangelo’s frescoed tour de force has now closed and will remain so for the entire duration of the process.

It will likely open again a couple of days after the conclave ends, as it has done after the death of previous Popes. As this process can go on for days, it is possible the Sistine Chapel will not reopen before mid-May.

The chapel is accessed through the Vatican Museums. These will remain open to visitors with all other parts accessible, including the Raphael Rooms, according to tour operator Through Eternity Tours.

Tours of the Necropolis of the Via Triumphalis and the Vatican Gardens are suspended for security reasons, however, as the cardinals are bused back and forth from the chapel to their accommodation through the grounds.

The Vatican Museums states that all tickets, including for the Sistine Chapel, are non-refundable and dates, times or names cannot be modified.

If you have purchased tickets through a third-party operator, you should check their website or contact them about refunds or date changes.

Visiting for the conclave? Where to see the white smoke

While it may be disappointing to forgo seeing the Sistine Chapel, a visit in this period can also be a once-in-a-lifetime experience (the Italian expression for ‘once in a blue moon’ is ‘every time a pope dies’).

In fact, media crews and thousands of visitors will be packed into St Peter’s Square and the surrounding area from tomorrow.

They’ll be hoping to glimpse the symbolic smoke from the Sistine Chapel chimney and the first appearance of the new pope at the loggia (balcony) of St Peter’s Basilica to deliver the Urbi et Orbi blessing.

The colour of the smoke indicates the outcome of voting rounds – black for inconclusive, white for the successful election of a new pope.

According to the National Catholic Reporter, you can see the smoke from the chapel twice daily – around noon after the first two ballots and again at 7 pm after the last round of voting.

White smoke might appear earlier, at around 10.30 am or 5.30 pm.

St Peter’s Square will likely be very difficult to access during the process, but religious artefact vendor Mondo Cattolico has shared several other locations to witness the historic moment.

Via della Conciliazione, the main avenue leading into the square, provides a broad view, ideal for those arriving later or seeking a wide perspective on the gathering.

Piazza Pio XII, just outside St. Peter’s Square, offers a less crowded experience while still maintaining a full view of the basilica. Ponte Sant’Angelo and the terrace of Castel Sant’Angelo give a panoramic view of the Vatican skyline and the rising smoke.

The vendor also suggests seeking out nearby rooftop terraces of hotels and cafes that provide unique angles on the conclave’s defining moment.

Long queues and dress codes for St Peter’s Basilica

Crowds and queues around the Vatican are still heavy, especially given the celebrations for the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year are already drawing an increased number of visitors.

Pope Francis has now been buried in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, but those wanting to visit St Peter’s Basilica should still expect long wait times and heightened security.

The dress code for visiting the sacred site is being strictly enforced. This includes having shoulders and knees covered and avoiding wearing short skirts, shorts, flip-flops and sleeveless tops.

Tourists should also expect crowds at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, a majestic UNESCO-designated sanctuary containing a piece of the Holy Crib and a venerated icon of the Virgin Mary as the protector of the Roman people.

Rome flight and hotel prices soar

With visitors from around the world descending on Rome, prices have seen a sharp uptick. If you are planning a short-notice trip to participate in some of the events, you should expect higher flight fares.

“We’ll definitely see an increase in flight prices to Rome and to Italy over the next few weeks, as the faithful flock to pay their respects and potentially to see the announcement of the new Pope,” Angus Kidman, travel expert at Finder, told Australian site news.com.au.

Hotel prices in Rome are also likely to rise as demand increases, says Tim Hentschel, the co-founder and CEO of travel company HotelPlanner, while some shops and restaurants may be closed as a sign of respect.

Before visiting Barcelona in March, I’d read the headlines with a healthy mix of scepticism and concern.

Tourists sprayed with water guns. Locals shout: ‘Tourists go home!’ More protests planned.

They painted the picture of a people fed up with the economy of coming and going. And there was no escaping it: my presence could contribute to the problem. I was travelling to run the city’s marathon – one of its biggest international events – and wondered if I’d picked the wrong time.

As is so often the case, the reality was more nuanced.

Big events bring big money – but also big crowds

International marathons are big business. According to its title sponsor, Bank of America, the 2022 Chicago Marathon generated about €340 million, created almost 3,000 jobs and pumped €145 million into the local economy.

Barcelona’s marathon isn’t quite on that scale, but still 27,000 people signed up for the March race – 7,000 more than ever before.

That’s roughly the number nine cruise ships would carry at full capacity, all descending on the city for one morning of hard work and one night of celebratory cava and vermút.

Would the city bristle at yet another influx of visitors eager to get lost in the Gothic Quarter, marvel at Gaudí’s masterpieces and feast their way through the mercats?

Not at all. I wasn’t met with water guns – although they would’ve been welcome at points along the 42-kilometre course – but with cries of encouragement.

Thousands of locals lined the streets. The energy was electric. The city felt proud.

None of this was a surprise. Marathons have yet to become targets for anti-tourism protestors, even if ‘race-cations’ are on the rise.

Still, the tension is real, and the impacts of overcrowding aren’t hard to find.

Why some locals are reaching their limit

Barcelona is one of Europe’s most visited cities. More than 12 million people visit each year, and about five million make a beeline for Park Güell and Sagrada Família alone. The pressure on these places – and on the people who live nearby – is immense.

Yet tourism accounts for more than 125,000 jobs and nearly 15 per cent of the city’s economy.

For many locals, this isn’t about banning tourists. It’s about finding a sustainable balance.

“Barcelona is a much calmer, safer and more welcoming city than what is reported, but sometimes we pay more attention to isolated events that make a lot of noise,” says Jordi Luque Sanz, a Barcelona native, food writer and senior culinary attaché at Bon Vivant Communications, a firm that manages chefs and high-end restaurants around the world.

“Having said that, I will not deny that tourism has grown enormously in recent years, that we lack an adequate model because no government has been interested in developing one seriously and that some areas are very overcrowded.”

During my trip, checklist destinations like La Rambla and Sagrada Família were packed, despite grey, wet and unpredictable weather. At one restaurant, I watched as a waiter – with the patience of a saint – repeatedly turned away diners who had ignored a “reservations only” sign and barged in to ask for a table, always in English.

At Park Güell, confused visitors, unaware they needed to book tickets online, met with exasperated workers. There, I overheard one staff member exclaim to a Spanish-speaking couple: “What a miracle to hear people speaking Spanish in this place!”

Cruise ships and short-term lets are under scrutiny

Much of the strain stems from how people visit the city.

Among the biggest flashpoints are short-term rentals and cruise ship tourism. Many apartments have been converted intoAirbnbs, pricing out locals and turning once-quiet streets into party zones.

“Here we don’t have ‘suburbia,’” says Ann-Marie Brannigan, an Irish expat and co-founder of Runner Bean Tours who has lived in Barcelona for almost 20 years. “Some people don’t know much about neighbourhood or flat living. It took me years to get used to it.”

She says that many tourists will often sit out on balconies or terraces, drinking and talking long after midnight – a taboo in Barcelona communities.

“If you want to have fun and party, you should go out to zones where there are clubs,” she advises.

Meanwhile,cruise ships unload thousands of day-trippers who rarely stay long enough to contribute meaningfully to the local economy.

Last May, Barcelona’s mayor, Jaume Collboni, warned that the volume of short-term travellers was overwhelming popular areas and crowding public transport. “We are reaching a limit, and we need to put a cap [on one-day visitors],” he said.

The cultural toll is just as concerning.

Longtime residents are watching their city change as historic bars, restaurants and neighbourhood markets are rebranded to suit the tastes of a transient crowd, and chintzy shops now occupy historic buildings in El Born and the Gothic Quarter.

What travellers can do differently

Beyond the big-name attractions, though, a less saturated and more rewarding Barcelona still exists.

The Recinte Modernista de Sant Pau offers a remarkable look at Barcelona’s modernist movement with a fraction of the crowds of Sagrada Família just down the road.

Small coffee shops like Dalston and Sip pair locally roasted beans with friendly service.

Less-frequented venues like the historic Mercat de Sant Antoni and pintxo favourite Quimtet & Quimtet – standing tables only – offer antidotes to overcrowded hotspots.

These are the kinds of experiences experts like Luque suggest seeking out.

“The great monuments – La Sagrada Família, Casa Batlló, the Picasso Museum – are fabulous, but it’s worth trying to get to know other places, such as the neighbourhoods of Poble Nou or Sants, where everything is much more real,” he says.

Luque recommends local markets like Mercat del Ninot and Mercat de Galvany over the packed Boqueria and encourages travellers to explore quieter corners of Eixample, “not just along and around Paseo de Gracia, which is a wonderful street but too crowded.”

Dunnigan suggests places like Montjuïc and Glòries if you want to see more local – and overlooked – sides of the city. “The cemetery in Montjuïc is absolutely beautiful, and no one goes there,” she says, highlighting the Art Nouveau-style mausoleums built by the city’s bourgeois for their loved ones around the turn of the 20th century.

Glòries, she adds, offers a window into the city’s modern architecture, including landmarks like the excellent Design Museum of Barcelona and Encants Market.

And she encourages visiting community festivals instead of just big ones like La Mercè.

“Every neighbourhood has two a year, with food and sardanas (traditional music dancing),” says Brannigan. “They’ll give you a much more local feel.”

It also helps to know – and follow – local etiquette. Luque has a few suggestions.

Don’t go shirtless, he says. Avoid rowdy antics in residential neighbourhoods. Drinking in the street? Not allowed. And learn a few Catalan or Spanish phrases. “A ‘gràcies’ for thank you or ‘hola’ for hello always helps and a smile opens many doors,” he says.

Is Barcelona at a crossroads?

At a recent summit in the city, protestor Elena Boschi made a pointed declaration to the media members in attendance: “We want tourists to have some level of fear about the situation – without fear, there is no change.”

Her words underline the growing tension between a city that depends on tourism yet struggles to manage its impact – a tension that’s evident to anyone visiting the city.

With protestors planning Europe-wide disruptions on 15 June – across Barcelona, Venice, Lisbon and beyond – the atmosphere is more volatile than ever. But it’s also clear that Barcelona isn’t vehemently anti-tourist. It’s simply asking for a different kind of tourist: one who comes with curiosity and listens as much as they look.