Pilgrims turn Spain's Santiago de Compostela into the world's latest overtourism flashpoint

SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, Spain (AP) — While some Barcelona residents sought to repel a tsunami of tourists with plastic water pistols, a neighborhood association in Santiago de Compostela opted for a friendlier approach: a guide to good manners for visitors to their town, the endpoint of the Catholic world's most famous pilgrimage.

Translated into several languages, the group posted it throughout the northwestern Spanish city and distributed it at its ever-growing number of hostels. It reminded tourists to keep noise down, respect traffic rules and use plastic protectors on hiking poles to avoid damaging the narrow cobblestone streets, among other things.

To little avail, it would seem. Large groups still take over the streets singing hymns, bikes ride in the wrong direction and metal pole tips clatter against the ground. Santiago's social media is awash with photos denouncing a lack of decorum.

Tourists' greater offense, though, stems from their sheer numbers; the old town and squares surrounding the cathedral holding the reputed tomb of Saint James the Apostle — and that was the center of town life for a millennium — today are almost exclusively the domain of outsiders, whose influx has served to expel residents. This dynamic has left Santiago emerging as the latest global destination where longtime residents have grown embittered by the overtourism transforming their community.

“We do not have tourism-phobia. We have always lived in harmony with tourism, but when it gets out of hand, when the pressure goes beyond what is reasonable, that is when rejection arises,” said Roberto Almuíña, president of the neighborhood association in the old town that's a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The “Camino de Santiago,” known in English as the Way of St. James, dates back to the 9th century, with pilgrims following its converging trails for up to hundreds of kilometers on paths originating in Portugal and France. The modern popularity it gained with the 2010 film “The Way” starring Martin Sheen was turbocharged more recently by social media and experience-driven travel after the coronavirus pandemic.

Last year, a record half-million people signed up to trek one of the approved routes to the cathedral — equal to five times the city’s resident population, and marking a 725-fold increase over the last four decades. Added to those masses are ordinary tourists not arriving by trail.

The proliferation of short-term rentals drove annual rent prices up 44% from 2018 to 2023, according to a study commissioned by the city council to the Fundación Universidade da Coruña. That led municipal authorities in May to request the regional government classify the area as a high-pressure zone, like Barcelona or San Sebastian, which would help to limit rent increases.

Already, last November, Santiago's city council enacted a ban on Airbnb-style tourist accommodations in the historic center, arguing at the time in a statement that it was “a necessity arising from its significant growth, which has clear effects on the number of housing units available for residents and on their price.”

Sihara Pérez, a researcher at the University of Santiago, described finding anywhere to rent in the city as “mission impossible,” while Antonio Jeremías, 27, told The Associated Press that he's considering moving back in with his mother, because his salary working full-time at a warehouse isn’t enough to make ends meet.

Andrea Dopazo, 32, tried to move out of her parents’ house in a neighborhood located fully 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the city center. But her desire to continue living in the place where she grew up and community ties are strong proved futile, and she had to take something in a town outside Santiago.

“The only people who have been able to stay in the neighborhoods are those who have been lucky — or unlucky — enough to inherit an apartment from their grandparents, uncles or parents,” said Dopazo, who works in human resources.

Across Spain, there have been major street protests against unaffordable housing, with many linking the housing crunch to tourists gobbling up short-term rentals.

In the old town, tourists can stay in small hotels in former homes or huge hostels converted from former seminaries, which aren’t subject to the ban. But in the hustle to cash in, some short-term rentals are apparently flouting the restriction, evidenced by tenants collecting keys from lockboxes hung outside buildings.

“Some follow the rules and others don’t, but this is the model that is really limiting residential housing,” said Montse Vilar, from another neighborhood group, Xuntanza.

Santiago’s City Hall told The Associated Press in a statement that it is “doing everything in its power to enforce the regulations” and that it takes action whenever it detects a case of an illegal apartment housing tourists.

Between 2000 and 2020, the historic center lost about half its permanent population, now reduced to just 3,000 residents who “resist like the Gauls” behind buildings' thick stone facades, Almuíña said. There are no hardware stores or newsstands left, and just one bakery. A couple grocery stores coexist with cafes, ice cream parlors and souvenir shops.

“The city has emptied out. You only have to take a walk to see that all we've got are closed, abandoned buildings that are falling apart,” Almuíña added.

This year, the number of pilgrims reaching Santiago is on track to set another record. The surge is further souring Santiago's residents on their city's tourism-centric economic model; already half of them rejected it as of 2023, up from just over one-quarter a decade earlier, according to a study conducted by Rede Galabra, a research group focused on cultural studies at the University of Santiago.

Even some of the pilgrims are noting a shift, like Spaniards Álvaro Castaño and Ale Osteso who met on the route four years ago and have returned every year since.

“The Camino is becoming more and more known, many more people are coming,” Osteso said one recent morning at the end of their trek, among tour groups of pilgrims in bright, color-coordinated outfits and families snapping pictures. “Spirituality seems to have been a little lost at times.”

Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP’s collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.

Pilgrims and tourists rest in front of the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Lalo Villar)

Pilgrims and tourists rest in front of the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Lalo Villar)

Pilgrims walk in Santiago de Compostela downtown, northwestern Spain, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Lalo Villar)

Pilgrims and tourists walk in Santiago de Compostela downtown, northwestern Spain, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Lalo Villar)

Pilgrims and tourists rest in front of the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, northwestern Spain, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Lalo Villar)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado discussed her country's future with President Donald Trump at the White House on Thursday, even though he has dismissed her credibility to take over after an audacious U.S. military raid captured then-President Nicolás Maduro.

Trump has raised doubts about his stated commitment to backing democratic rule in Venezuela and signaled his willingness to work with acting President Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s No. 2. Along with others in the deposed leader’s inner circle, Rodríguez remains in charge of day-to-day government operations and was set to deliver her first state of the union speech Thursday.

In endorsing Rodríguez so far, Trump has sidelined Machado, who has long been a face of resistance in Venezuela. She also had sought to cultivate relationships with Trump and key administration voices like Secretary of State Marco Rubio among the American right wing in a gamble to ally herself with the U.S. government.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had been looking forward to the lunchtime meeting with Machado and called her “a remarkable and brave voice” for the people of Venezuela. But Leavitt also said Trump's opinion of Machado had not changed, calling it "a realistic assessment."

Trump has said it would be difficult for Machado to lead because she “doesn’t have the support within or the respect within the country.” Her party is widely believed to have won 2024 elections rejected by Maduro.

Leavitt went on to say that Trump supported new Venezuelan elections “when the time is right” but did not say when he thought that might be.

Leavitt said Machado sought the face-to-face meeting without setting expectations for what would occur. Machado previously offered to share with Trump the Nobel Peace Prize she won last year, an honor he has coveted.

“I don’t think he needs to hear anything from Ms. Machado," the press secretary said, other than to have a ”frank and positive discussion about what’s taking place in Venezuela.”

Machado spent about two and a half hours at the White House but left without answering questions on whether she'd offered to give her Nobel prize to Trump, saying only “gracias."

After her White House stop, Machado plans to have a meeting at the Senate. Her Washington visit began after U.S. forces in the Caribbean Sea seized another sanctioned oil tanker that the Trump administration says had ties to Venezuela.

It is part of a broader U.S. effort to take control of the South American country’s oil after U.S. forces seized Maduro and his wife at a heavily guarded compound in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas and brought them to New York to stand trial on drug trafficking charges.

Leavitt said Venezuela's interim authorities have been fully cooperating with the Trump administration and that Rodríguez's government said it planned to release more prisoners detained under Maduro. Among those released were five Americans this week.

Rodríguez has adopted a less strident position toward Trump then she did immediately after Maduro's ouster, suggesting that she can make the Republican administration's “America First” policies toward the Western Hemisphere, work for Venezuela — at least for now.

Trump said Wednesday that he had a “great conversation” with Rodríguez, their first since Maduro was ousted.

“We had a call, a long call. We discussed a lot of things,” Trump said during an Oval Office bill signing. “And I think we’re getting along very well with Venezuela.”

Even before indicating the willingness to work with Venezuela's interim government, Trump was quick to snub Machado. Just hours after Maduro's capture, Trump said of Machado that “it would be very tough for her to be the leader.”

Machado has steered a careful course to avoid offending Trump, notably after winning the peace prize. She has since thanked Trump, though her offer to share the honor with him was rejected by the Nobel Institute.

Machado’s whereabouts have been largely unknown since she went into hiding early last year after being briefly detained in Caracas. She briefly reappeared in Oslo, Norway, in December after her daughter received the Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf.

The industrial engineer and daughter of a steel magnate began challenging the ruling party in 2004, when the nongovernmental organization she co-founded, Súmate, promoted a referendum to recall then-President Hugo Chávez. The initiative failed, and Machado and other Súmate executives were charged with conspiracy.

A year later, she drew the anger of Chávez and his allies again for traveling to Washington to meet President George W. Bush. A photo showing her shaking hands with Bush in the Oval Office lives in the collective memory. Chávez considered Bush an adversary.

Almost two decades later, she marshaled millions of Venezuelans to reject Chávez’s successor, Maduro, for another term in the 2024 election. But ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared him the winner despite ample credible evidence to the contrary. Ensuing anti-government protests ended in a brutal crackdown by state security forces.

Garcia Cano reported from Caracas, Venezuela, and Janetsky from Mexico City. AP Diplomatic Writer Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado gestures to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado waves to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado smiles on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado waves to supporters on Pennsylvania Avenue as she leaves the White House after meeting with President Donald Trump Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

FILE - U.S. President George Bush, right, meets with Maria Corina Machado, executive director of Sumate, a non-governmental organization that defends Venezuelan citizens' political rights, in the Oval Office of the White House, Washington, May 31, 2005. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado gestures to supporters during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro the day before his inauguration for a third term, in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, file)