This year was marked by a string of anti-tourism protests across Europe.

Locals and residents fought back to regain their cities with marches, campaigns, slogans and even water pistols.

From Amsterdam and Athens to Venice, Barcelona and the Canary Islands, and Málaga to the Balearic Islands, residents rose up and spoke out about overtourism.

But when it comes to handling increasing visitor numbers as we enter 2025, are authorities and protestors on the same page? Here’s what both groups say – and are planning.

Authorities responded with different overtourism measures

In Barcelona, the city council vowed to get rid of all Airbnb-style accommodation by 2028, and in December 2024, they took the first step when the Urban Planning Commission initially approved an amendment for stricter limits that can now be placed on short-term rentals.

Venice, meanwhile, limited tour groups and banned megaphones back in August. Málaga barred new holiday flats in 43 city neighbourhoods, and the Canary Islands decreed that 90 per cent of residential areas must be allocated to permanent residences within the next five years.

Amsterdam, on the other hand, launched a ‘Stay Away’ campaign, as well as an interactive quiz to test visitors on behavioural etiquette.

But this is more than simply about crowds and noise.

In Spain, where most of the demonstrations have taken place, most of the anti-tourism protests have been about accommodation. Many believe that the current housing crisis is in part due to the increase in tourist accommodation over the last few years.

Are the protests and the new measures working, or do these cities still have a long fight ahead of them?

“We need tourism to decrease”, says Barcelona protestor

The country welcomed 82.8 million international travellers in the first ten months of 2024, beating all previous records, according to the latest statistics from the Spanish Ministry of Industry and Tourism.

And it doesn’t seem to be slowing down: tourism is expected to grow by 25 per cent in the winter of 2024/25 compared with last year, the Spanish Tourism Board recently revealed.

A spokesperson for the Assemblea de Barris pel Decreixement Turístic (Assembly of Neighbourhoods for the Decline of Tourism or ABDT) in Barcelona, who organised some of the protests there, shares their thoughts ahead of the New Year.

“We want to work in ever-larger networks, as well as undertake our usual tasks of mobilisation, political advocacy and pedagogy regarding the nature of the tourism industry,” they say. “We need tourism to decrease”.

They believe that the city authorities are not seeking to reduce the problems but the mobilisation against tourism – while promoting tourism growth at the same time. They believe overtourism is contributing to climatic, social, and environmental issues, as well as the housing emergency.

The authorities, they add, “should abandon any policy of tourism promotion and mega-events and urgently embark on the path of tourist decline and eco-social transition”.

Although the ABDT don’t have any concrete plans for more protests, they are resolute that more changes need to happen.

The spokesperson argues that the city council’s intention to ban all tourist apartments in Barcelona appears uncertain. “At the moment, there is no plan, just a public announcement. Even if it were to become reality, it would be too late and insufficient”.

They maintain that all types of tourist accommodation should be decreased, including hotels, which are “also responsible for the reduction of the housing stock”.

The Canary Islands will hold more anti-tourist protests

Nestor Marrero Rodríguez, secretary of ATAN (the Tenerife Association of Friends of Nature), who helped to organise Tenerife’s overtourism protests in October, also believes that the authorities are not doing enough to help the situation.

“In fact, it’s the opposite,” Rodríguez says. “New projects are still being planned which contribute to the current situation of degradation of the territory and perpetuate the poverty of Canarian society.

But he does concede that a manifesto has been created with a series of measures, such as the creation of a tourist eco-tax, limitation of new constructions in favour of the renovation of existing hotels, and improvement of the purification systems.

“In 2025, there will be several demonstrations in tourist areas, among other protests that are being planned by different groups,” Rodríguez confirms, although he does not reveal any specific dates.

Rodriguez has a message for anyone thinking of taking a holiday in the Canary Islands next year.

“As long as the situation remains the same, you should choose other more sustainable destinations, with less polluted seas and where their money does not contribute to the impoverishment of the local population and the overexploitation of their resources,” he says.

He also adds that there are several local companies where tourists can vacation in a more sustainable way.

Should visitors still ‘stay away’ from Amsterdam?

In Amsterdam, city councillor Sofyan Mbarki speaks to Euronews Travel about how they plan to tackle issues of overtourism for the coming year.

Mbarki explains that over the past years, more than 75 measures have been implemented to combat the negative effects of overtourism – from rules to regulate the capacity of B&Bs and vacation rentals to relocating and reducing sea and river cruises and banning coaches in the city centre.

“We see that previous measures have had an effect. However, we also know that more is needed to address the nuisance caused by tourism and cope with the increasing number of visitors in the future,” he explains.

Mbarki confirms that one of the ways they’ll do this in 2025 is by continuing to ban the addition of beds in hotels in the city, as well as the ban on the creation of new hotels.

“We are also bringing forward closing times for more cafes and restaurants and working on spreading out coffee shops across the city,” he adds.

“These measures have had a positive impact on livability,” but more is needed, he assures, confirming that additional measures to regulate the growing number of visitors and further reduce disturbances would be taken in 2025.

“Visitors remain welcome,” Mbarki says. “But not if they misbehave or cause disturbances”.

“If you plan to visit Amsterdam, be mindful of the rules. We are taking measures to ensure neighbourhoods popular with tourists remain liveable for residents and overcrowding is reduced”.

He also reminds tourists that they can help by exploring areas outside the city centre, as well as “incredible places throughout Amsterdam and the surrounding region”.

Wave Season is famous in the cruising industry for being the busiest booking period of the year. 2025 is set to be no different, thanks to the post-pandemic boom in cruising.

From January until the end of March, bookings flood in, with some of them made years in advance of the voyage.

I’ve previously worked for a cruise line and have been a travel writer for 24 years, so I guarantee Wave Season is the best time to save money and score perks like free room upgrades or credit to use onboard.

Thanks to the Friends of the Earth US’s (FOE) Cruise Ship Report Card, you can now easily make more environmentally responsible decisions, too.

Here, I give you my tips and tricks for finding the best bargain while avoiding the most common mistakes.

How to save money on a cruise – and why a bargain might not be all it seems

There’s little point in shunning the fireworks to leap onto booking sites at 00:01 on 1 January. Bargains can be found throughout the three-month sale period, with additional discounted cruises often added right up until the end.

How far in advance should you book a cruise? The industry is unusual in that bookings can open well over two years in advance, a long time before flights are even bookable. Such advance bookings are, however, unlikely to attract large discounts, so during Wave Season, you may want to focus on departures within 12 months.

It’s possible to find heavily discounted last-minute deals, but they usually mean you have to go when there are still plenty of available cabins on a particular sailing rather than having a choice of dates.

I have, however, seen excellent deals (such as an MSC Cruises holiday departing Southampton for just £50 (€60) per person per night in a balcony cabin) up to two months before departure. Further savings can be made if you’re not fussed about cruising during a destination’s low season.

Be warned: cheaper cruises will often get you the bare minimum for your bargain holiday. You’ll pay extra for access to the spa and some restaurants, and for any drinks apart from teas, coffees and juices.

I equate the cheaper end of the cruise market with the Ryanair model of offering incredible up-front prices, then pestering you for those optional extras. Whereas before, you could choose where your cabin is, now, when you pay less, you don’t necessarily get that choice.

Apart from the cons of cruising on a minimal budget, there are also positives. Having been on an astonishingly cheap MSC cruise, I can safely say that you’ll still have a great time. You’ll be going to the same destinations as those who have paid considerably more, mostly eating the same food and enjoying the same on-board entertainment. There won’t be any hidden charges, like taxes and tips, either.

There’s a lot to be said for paying more too. Paying upfront for drinks packages and access to speciality restaurants means you won’t be worrying about your spending once on board. If you think you’ll be wanting spa time then it’s often cheaper to include this in your package before you sail.

My personal preference is to go as cheap as possible. I know that if I want additional drinks, I can purchase them individually without a huge on-board cost. For example, a beer on Royal Caribbean’s ships will set you back about US$8 (€7.62), and there are often daily promotions on certain drinks. Because I’m not interested in having more than two or three paid-for drinks every day I know that drinks packages are not for me.

Is it better to book a cruise directly or via a travel agent?

I’m a keen independent traveller, I like creating my own holidays and saving money along the way. But when it comes to booking a cruise, a travel agent can be of enormous value. I’ve seen cruise lines provide agents with prices you may not find elsewhere, plus agents have the expertise of pulling in various other discounts to get you the very best deal going. Found a better price elsewhere? It’s possible that an agent can beat it, so don’t be afraid to ask.

Airlines like to hide some of their most discounted rates by combining them in package holidays. So if you’re booking a cruise that necessitates flights, having an agent package them together could save you money, especially during the main airline sale season (which overlaps with Wave Season in January).

You can cut your carbon footprint by looking into arriving at your cruise’s departure point by land or sea rather than flying. Long-distance and overnight trains are booming right now, with journey times ever shorter and trains more comfortable than ever. You also only need to arrive at the train station an hour before your train leaves – instead of waiting in an airport for hours. Websites like Omio and Trainline are great for figuring out routes and prices.

Being loyal to a cruise company rewards them – and you

If you’ve been on a cruise before and you still have access to your previous booking details, you can enjoy that cruise line’s loyalty programme. Cruise companies love loyalty – they’re willing to offer generous discounts and perks to repeat bookers.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by choice, I recommend starting your Wave Season sale search with a cruise line you’ve enjoyed sailing on before. That amazing sale price you found? It can be made even more amazing by adding the loyalty discount on top.

After a slow start, the cruise industry has now caught on to more advanced online booking technology. I still find it worthwhile shopping around different cruise agencies, but, in my experience, the difference in price can be negligible. Where the real differences between these websites lie are in how search results are presented and the filters you can select when searching.

Combining cruise deals with environmental responsibility

Another benefit of the advances in booking cruises online is that you can search for less polluting cruises. I love that online agency Iglu Cruise has researched each line’s sustainability goals, using criteria such as shoreside power and advanced wastewater systems to create an ‘Eco-Friendly’ filter on its search page.

The FOE’s Cruise Ship Report Card ranks lines and ships from A to F based on four key environmental factors: Sewage treatment, air pollution reduction, water quality/scrubber use, and transparency.

It’s rare to see such a complicated issue presented so clearly. All you do is compare cruise lines in the left-hand column with the grade they received in the right-hand column. Look out for the tabs at the top of the table to see the scores for individual ships.

I’m impressed at how this report card cuts through the usual greenwashing. For example, many lines boast about how some of their ships can now run on liquified natural gas (LNG), but it’s not as clean as they claim it is. “Lately many cruise ships have been outfitted with LNG technology,” says Marcie Keever, author of the Cruise Ship Report Card, “but this is a polluting fuel producing harmful amounts of methane.”

It’s thanks to this level of research and detail that the report card is the best tool for any cruise booker wanting to easily make more responsible decisions.

How to be environmentally friendly while onboard a cruise

There are plenty of things you can do once onboard a cruise to contribute to reducing the voyage’s carbon footprint. Firstly, don’t bring more luggage than you need – as that makes the ship heavier.

Act as you would in your own home – don’t waste water (an especially precious resource on a ship), turn off the lights, and unplug devices when you leave your cabin.

Many ships now have advanced recycling centres, so take the time to throw away your rubbish in the correct bin.

It’s always best to reuse towels and bedlinen to reduce ocean pollution. For example, the ship Norwegian Bliss gets through 5,000 kg of laundry every day, with the resultant wastewater pumped into the sea.

When you first see those buffets laden with delicious food or learn that you can, in fact, order as many dishes from the menu as you want, you may be tempted to pile up your table with as many plates as it can carry.

I get it: food is a big part of any cruise. On Royal Caribbean’s largest ships, an incredible 3,200 slices of pizza are served every hour. My advice is to pace yourself, not least because, by doing so, you will help to reduce the vast amounts of food waste generated by cruises.

I’ve never noticed a difference in price between cruises that spend more time in ports than they do at sea. But cruises that involve more sea days will, of course, be burning more fuel.

In addition to choosing cruises with less travel time, it’s also worth seeing if your cruise stops at ports that offer cleaner shoreside power. Cruise Lines International Association has produced this handy map to help your search.

London’s Heathrow Airport, one of Europe’s busiest, advised passengers to check with their airlines regarding potential delays.

Gatwick Airport in London also warned that some flights may be delayed throughout Saturday and apologised for the inconvenience. Flights were delayed by up to three hours late on Friday because of poor weather conditions, and at least 40 flights from the airport, mostly short haul to Europe, were delayed Saturday morning.

The UK’s weather forecasters, the Met Office, said thick fog patches could reduce visibility to just 100 metres in some areas across the country. It said travellers should allow “a little bit longer” for journeys and warned drivers to be extra careful.

Conditions are expected to improve on Sunday, the Met Office said.

The country’s main air traffic control organisation said the restrictions would remain in place in areas with low visibility.

“Restrictions of this sort are only ever applied to maintain safety,” it said. “Our teams are working closely with the airports and airlines to minimise disruption.”

Several other European airports also faced disruptions. At both the Schiphol and Eindhoven airports in the Netherlands dozens of flights were cancelled and others faced delays of up to four and a half hours.

Some flights have also not been taking off or landing at Poland’s Kraków Airport due to the fog. Flights to Istanbul, Amsterdam and Frankfurt have been completely cancelled.

The flights from Toulouse, Madrid and Frankfurt that could not land at Balice are being directed to Rzeszów, Warsaw, Ostrava and Bratislava.

The complications come at a busy time of year when many people travel following the Christmas holiday and ahead of the New Year.