Anti-tourist extremist group Arran storms Barcelona open-top bus sparking fears for Brits amid new wave of attacks against holidaymakers

ANTI-tourism activists stormed an open-top bus in Barcelona today to protest against overcrowding in Spain's holiday hotspots.

Two members of Arran, the youth wing of the radical CUP party, lit green and white flares in its latest attack on the industry.

They boarded the coach as it stopped outside the Olympic village this morning and hung a sign saying: "Stop mass tourism in the Catalan countries."

The campaign group posted a picture of the demonstration on its Facebook page where it had earlier warned of new protests.

They warned they would take the protest to the rest of Spain to show their disgust at overcrowding in holiday hotspots.

Arran says it is not against tourism but oppose "massification" which they claim is ruining local people's lives.

They also claim overcrowding is ruining the landscape, damaging beaches, pricing residents out of the property market and "eating up the coastline".

Tourists were terrified last summer when Arran attacked another sightseeing bus full of British tourists in Barcelona, near the Camp Nou.

Its supporters also rampaged through restaurants in Palma's posh marina in August last year, letting off smoke bombs as they ran.

And just two weeks ago, protesters wearing masks from the same group had to be cut free after chaining themselves to a famous Gaudi sculpture in Barcelona.

An Arran spokesman once told Sun Online: "The problem of tourism here is totally out of control.

"It is focused on partying and being uncontrollable and it attracts all kinds of people who have no respect for the places they visit.

"They leave it in a state that nobody can then enjoy... The problem can be seen across the island."

Their newest attack took place before 10am this morning, with Arran saying tourist buses are "a symbol" of what they are fighting against.

The protesters climbed to the top level of the open-air bus, hung their poster and let off two smoke flares.

Holidaymakers were enjoying a tour of the city when the bus was hijacked but no one was hurt and no damage was cased to the vehicle.

Arran wrote on its Facebook page: "Yes, we've stopped a tourist bus in Barcelona to denounce the massive tourism model that strikes us #StopMassTourism."

According to sources from Barcelona Metropolitan Transportation, the two protestors left the bus within a short space of time.

The deputy mayor of Barcelona, Gerardo Pisarello, called the action "a symbolic initiative".

He added: "It is one of the many that occur in Barcelona, we must promote a debate on the city's tourism model."

Arran said the demonstration involving the Gaudi structure was "just the start" of a summer campaign aimed at mass tourism.

Last summer, protesters graffitied "tourists go home" in popular tourist spots, slashed rental bike tyres and ransacked a hotel reception.

They also held up holiday coaches and pelted them with eggs, then super-glued the locks of businesses linked to tourism.
The protesters wore hoods when they sabotaged an open-top tour bus near the Nou camp in Barcelona last year.

Many of the holidaymakers on board thought it was a terrorist attack rather than what transpired to be a protest.

In Majorca, a group of Arran members also staged a demonstration at the upmarket Palma marina, letting off pink flares and storming a restaurant.

Arran says the current tourism model is "designed solely and exclusively on the basis of the economic interests of the class that exploits it" and "threatens the lives of people".

The group tweeted: "Summer arrives and we start once again the campaign against mass tourism.

"It's not tourismphobia, it's a class struggle... We present the campaign for this #Summer2018 against the mass tourism that expels us from cities, destroys the coastline and sweeps up the entire mountains."

In its new campaign statement, the group says the current tourism model does not help the majority of the Spanish population.

It went on: "Tourism generates work, of course, but we cannot base our economy on a finite, unsustainable sector."

The campaigners say property owners are pricing local people out of the market by renting to tourists, jobs in the industry are low-paid with long hours, land is snapped up for amusement parks and only those involved in tourism businesses reap the financial rewards.

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