Basque Game of Thrones Destination: Overtourism Disrupts Residents & Fauna

The large number of tourists disrupts residents and fauna in this Game of Thrones destination.

The increasing interest in San Juan de Gaztelugatxe, Basque Country, has led local authorities to introduce a ticketing system online to limit the number of tourists and to ban tourists from ringing church bells.

These measures have not made a big difference, as the fans who flock to this zone upset bid breeding and cause discontent among local residents.

SchengenVisaInfo.com reported that the area, known to Game of Thrones fans as Dragonstone, was a popular pilgrimage destination, but it peaked in 2016.

In 2019, nearly 730,000 people visited Gaztelugatxe, which is around 140,000 people more than in 2018. This represents a 25% increase in just one year. On August 15, 2019 alone, 6,434 visitors visited the area.

Ringing the bell of the church is prohibited because it scares and stresses marine birds. This can affect their breeding habits. Locals claim that the online booking system is not effective because of the increase in popularity at the local site.

"The buses, which are already infrequent, are now full of tourists who want to visit the area, taking the places from people who live in Bakio and need to use the local transport. It's a joke that locals have to now ask to visit a place on their doorstep that they have always been able to freely visit before," Maialen Carbo, a resident of Bakio mentioned.

Tourism has changed the face of San Juan.

Local authorities have taken measures to reduce the negative impacts on the site, and the Provincial Council of Bizkaia supports the creation of a newly created body to strengthen cooperation between departments and authorities to support the sustainable use of the site.

San Juan is not the only area that has to deal with overtourism and its effects. Caceres is a medieval town and UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was used for Game of Thrones filming and will be for the second season of the spin-off 'House of the Dragon.

Tourism can be a great thing for a location, bringing in popularity and generating better profits, but it can also lead to overtourism, leaving residents stranded, and often unhappy, at their homes.

Source: schengenvisainfo.com