French island issues extreme tourist rule after services 'stop working'
The new restrictions on Ile-de-Brehat will only apply at the weekends and aim to keep the island's population below 5,000.
A French island has gone to extreme lengths to combat overtourism that has sparked protests across Europe.
Ile-de-Brehat is now introducing a tourism quota as part of measures to tackle overtourism in the region. Under the new measures, from this week until August 23 the maximum number of people allowed on the island is 4,700 between 08.30am and 2.30pm.
While this number includes tourists, it does not include workers, second homeowners or residents of the popular holiday spot off the coast of Brittany.
Following the decision to bring in the quota – that does not apply on weekends - local officials have said that it wasn’t about stopping people from coming, but to ensure those who did visit had a “better” experience.
Speaking to Agence France-Presse, the mayor of the island Olivier Carre said: “We’re not actually trying to stop people coming – just to make sure they have a better time when they do.”
Mr Carre added that while the authorities had introduced the quota, it would be down to the ferry companies taking visitors over to the island to enforce them.
On why they had taken a decision to introduce the number and what had led them to choose the specific figure, Mr Carre explained: “Once you reach or pass that level, nothing works – there’s nowhere for people to park at the ferry terminal…not enough seats on the boat, and all the restaurants on the island are full, the hire bikes run out, the cycle paths are rammed.”
The decision by the authorities to introduce a tourist quota on Ile-de-Brehat comes as several towns and cities across the European continent battle against overtourism.
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One of the main hotspots for anger against overtourism has been the Balearic island of Majorca. It has seen thousands of people take to the streets to express their displeasure at what tourism has done to their neighbourhoods.
Earlier this week, another anti-tourism protest rocked the island with over 100 groups taking part in the demonstration in Palma.
Ahead of the march, the organisers said it was a protest “against mass tourism and a process of touristification that suffocates us, condemns us to impoverishment and the continued precariousness of our lives, and an irreversible degradation of the territory and the natural and cultural heritage of the islands”.
The Majorca Daily Bulletin reported that they said they wanted the march” to be a turning point and the start of continuous mobilisation on the streets, in neighbourhoods, towns and villages, workplaces, educational centres, the agricultural sector in the fight for housing”.
