Alicante: tourism vs immigration, the press under scrutiny

Alicante: tourism isn't the only culprit, as neighbourhood discontent grows

A few days ago, the newspaper Información reported that residents of Alicante, Spain, feel like foreigners in their own city, pointing to mass tourism as the main culprit. The story has peine an uncomfortable debate: is it tourism or immigration that is transforming the historic centre?

While the article spoke of displacement caused by holiday rentals and gentrification, a current running through online backchannels points to another phenomenon: the concentration of immigrant populations in neighbourhoods such as the Casco Antiguo (Old Quarter) and the area around Calle Mayor. Unofficial figures are cited (a third of the population would be of foreign origin, with a strong presence of Maghrebi and sub-Saharan communities) that clash with the official narrative.

The discontent is nothing new. Residents of the city centre have complained for years about dirt, noise and a perceived lack of safety. But the finger of blame is now also being pointed at tourists, often European retirees who eat paella and go to bed early — a profile that has little in common with that of the holiday apartments in the centre.

Underlying it all is a clash of narratives. For some, the problem is the low-cost economy and uncontrolled touristification; for others, it is the lack of integration of certain communities and the city council's leniency towards squatting and street-level drug dealing. Both positions have partial data, but neither offers the full picture.

Alicante's city hall, led by Luis Barcala, maintains an unwavering tourism promotion discourse. Meanwhile, residents of the centre keep accumulating complaints that no local government has managed to channel. As in so many Mediterranean cities, the debate boils down to one question: who has the right to the city?