'Go back home' anti-tourism stickers appear on holiday rental flats in Malaga

"This used to be my house" and "A family used to live here before", are some of the more polite phrases used in the sticker campaign initiative, which has gained support from numerous residents and groups

Cristina Pinto

Malaga

Wednesday, 13 March 2024, 12:39 | Updated 13:41h.

Malaga city centre is being plastered with stickers that vilify tourism. Anyone who has looked at the façades of numerous buildings recently, specifically those with the 'AT' tourist apartment sign, will have noticed the aggressive play on words that a group of anonymous Malaga residents is carrying out.

"AnTes una familia vivía aquí" (Before, a family lived here), "AnTes to' esto era centro" (Before, this was the centre) and "AnTes esa era mi casa" (Before, that was my house) are some of the phrases that can be spotted in this anti-tourism sticker initiative, using the letters A and T in the tourist apartment sign. Others are more insulting: "Apestando a Turista" (Stinks of tourist), "A Tu puta casa" and "A Tomar por culo de aquí" (basically saying 'go home') and even the mayor was included: "Alcalde Tusmuerto".

The campaign started off with slogans on Instagram by Dani Drunko, owner of the city centre bar Drunk-O-Rama on Calle Ramón Franquelo who proposed adding phrases with the play on words.

"The truth is that people got very involved in the matter; they got very creative. We had a competition and selected the funniest ones and the ones that got the most 'likes'. But this has got out of hand and a lot of people have joined the cause and got involved, so much so that they are printing them and sticking them up all over the streets of the city centre; I see more and more of them," the business owner told SUR.

Why the anti-tourism campaign?

The protest on social media was launched when Drunko was "kicked out" of the house where he had been living for ten years. "I live in Fuente Olletas and, after having to renew the contract, a few weeks ago they told me that they are not renewing it. They won't renegotiate the rent, or sell it to me, or anything. I'm going to get kicked out of there; they're going to adapt it for tourist rental," Drunko said.

Since the end of February, groups such as 'GuirisGoHome' and 'La Invisible' have joined the initiative. However, there has been an explosion of the often offensive stickers next to flat entrances. "Every day I receive photos of new stickers [some of which] are going viral. There is a lot of involvement because people are tired of the situation; I only proposed the idea of the phrases, I lit the spark, and now we have united to fight together," Drunko said.

The bar owner knows the city centre well because he works there every day and because the vast majority of his clients are from Malaga who have been through the same situation as him. "I have been fighting and demanding this for a long time because many of my customers and friends have suffered from being kicked out of their homes to make way for tourist rentals. The centre has been in decline for some time now, so much so that if, for example, something breaks in the bar, I don't have a hardware store handy to buy anything. But, of course, the tourist who comes here is not going to need to buy screws ...".

Antes to’ esto era Centro, como dice esta pegatina junto a varios pisos turísticos.

Recorres las calles de #Málaga y es prácticamente imposible encontrar un edificio de viviendas que no tenga un candado y contraseña.

Pero @pacodelatorrep sigue sin mover un dedo por los… pic.twitter.com/27dGEf5rTT
— Dani Pérez /❤️🇪🇺 (@aDanielPerez) March 12, 2024

The provincial secretary of the PSOE political party, Dani Pérez, has supported the initiative and published an image on 'X' denouncing the situation. "You walk the streets of Malaga city centre and it is practically impossible to find an apartment building that does not have a keylock and password," the councillor wrote on his social media account.

"We want to get [the situation] regulated. Everyone has the right to be able to live in a decent house at an affordable price," concluded Drunko.

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