Lisbon Suffers Effects Of Overtourism With Tuk-Tuks Clogging The Streets

Lisbon, Portugal, is the latest popular tourist city to feel the effects of overtourism this summer. According to residents, the tuk-tuks are clogging their streets, making them almost unlivable. Some of the locals say the tourist traffic is so bad, it is often stopping them from leaving their homes.

Lisbon, Portugal feeling the effects of overtourism

Europe this summer has been sizzling with heat, but this doesn’t stop crowds of tourists visiting popular cities like Lisbon in Portugal. While Barcelona and Mallorca in Spain and Venice in Italy and more suffer from overtourism, Lisbon just joined the list of cities where residents are feeling the strain of too many visitors.

According to locals in Portugal’s capital, tourist tuk-tuks are clogging their streets, making them almost unlivable. Meanwhile, some residents say the heavy tourist traffic even stops them from leaving their homes.

With the increase of tourism in Portugal, Lisbon’s narrow streets are feeling the strain of the many tourist tuk-tuks. Euronews quotes Rosa Alves, 78, as saying she can’t even count the small three-wheeled tourist taxis anymore as there are so many.

According to the pensioner, the vehicles appear at sunrise, carrying visitors to the top of the hill until late in the day. Alves says she has been living in her apartment for 50 years, but never before have things been so bad in her neighborhood. She said there are more tourists visiting Lisbon, meaning there are more tuk-tuks and traffic in general.

Rosa isn’t alone, as she and local media say that locals can’t even leave their homes due to the parked tuk-tuks and heavy traffic blocking their path. Speaking of her Graça neighborhood, Alves said:

For the last five, six years this has become a mess. All over Graça, there has been a serious change for the worst.

About the tuk-tuks of Lisbon

On one side of the street, tuk-tuks are parked, waiting to transport tourists. However, on the other side of the street, someone has painted some graffiti, reading “Stop Gentrification.”

While Alves said she didn’t write it, she does sympathize with the message. Moreover, she has seen many other changes in her beloved neighborhood. These include neighbors moving out and being replaced by strangers staying in vacation rentals.

Meanwhile, in Sintra, a popular area of Lisbon, local activists have started a movement by leaving messages around the city, reading “Sintra is not Disneyland,” and “Traffic jam in paradise.” Some are written in Portuguese, while others are in English.

Moreover, the people of Lisbon join locals across Europe in protest against the negative effects of overtourism. Lisbon’s deputy mayor has suggested limiting the number of tuk-tuks in the narrow streets, but, so far, this measure has not been implemented.

However, one resident does say it is not only about scaring away the many tourists. She said they should rather bring them into the fight. She wants visitors “to become our allies” and to “understand that there is an issue here.”

Read more articles about overtourism in Europe here.