Andrea Carlo is a British-Italian researcher and journalist living in Rome. His work has been published in various outlets, including TIME, Euronews and the Independent. Last month, UNESCO designated Italian cuisine part of the world’s “intangible cultural heritage.” This wasn’t the first time such an honor was bestowed upon food in some form — French haute cuisine and Korean kimchi fermentation, among others, have been similarly recognized. But it was the first time a nation’s cuisine in its entirety made the list. So, as the U.N. agency acknowledged the country’s “biocultural diversity” and its “blend of culinary traditions […] associated with the use of raw materials and artisanal food preparation techniques,” Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni reacted with expected pride. This is “a victory for Italy,” she said. And prestige aside — Italy already tops UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites — it isn’t hard to see the potential benefits this designation might entail. One study even suggests the UNESCO nod alone could boost Italian tourism by up to 8 percent. But behind this evident soft power win also lies a political agenda, which has turned “Italian cuisine” into a powerful weapon for the country’s right-wing government. For Meloni’s government, food is all the rage. It permeates every aspect of political life. From promoting “Made in Italy” products to blocking EU nutrition labelling scores and banning lab-grown meat, Rome has been doing its utmost to regulate what’s on Italian plates. In fact, during Gaza protests in Rome in September, Meloni was sat in front of the Colosseum for a “Sunday lunch” as part of her government’s long-running campaign to make the coveted list. Clearly, the prime minister has made Italian cuisine one of the main courses of her political menu. And all of this can be pinpointed to a phenomenon political scientists call “gastronationalism,” whereby food and its production are used to fuel identitarian narratives — a trend the Italian far right has latched onto with particular gusto. There are two main principles involving Italian gastronationalism: The notion that the country’s culinary traditions must be protected from “foreign contamination,” and that its recipes must be enshrined to prevent any “tinkering.” And the effects of this gastronationalism now stretch from political realm all the way to the world of social media “rage-bait,” with a deluge of TikTok and Instagram content lambasting “culinary sins” like adding cream to carbonara or putting pineapple on pizza. At the crux of this gastronationalism, though, lies the willful disregard of two fundamental truths: First, foreign influence has contributed mightily to what Italian cuisine is today; and second, what is considered to be “Italian cuisine” is neither as old nor as set in stone as gastronationalists would like to admit. Europe, as a continent, is historically poor in its selection of indigenous produce — and Italy is no exception. The remarkable variety of the country’s cuisine isn’t due to some geographic anomaly, rather, it is the byproduct of centuries of foreign influence combined with a largely favorable climate: Citrus fruits imported by Arab settlers in the Middle Ages, basil from the Indian subcontinent through ancient Greek trading routes, pasta-making traditions from East Asia, and tomatoes from the Americas. Lying at the crossroads of the Mediterranean and home to major trading outposts, Italy was a sponge for cultural cross-pollination, which enriched its culinary heritage. To speak of the “purity” of Italian food is inherently ahistorical. This wasn’t the first time such an honor was bestowed upon food in some form — French haute cuisine and Korean kimchi fermentation, among others, have been similarly recognized. | Anthony Wallace/AFP via Getty Images But even more controversial is acknowledging that the concept of “Italian cuisine” is a relatively recent construct — one largely borne from post-World War II efforts to both unite a culturally and politically fragmented country, and to market its international appeal. From north to south, not only is Italy’s cuisine remarkably diverse, but most of its iconic dishes today would have been alien to those living hardly a century ago. Back then, Italy was an agrarian society that largely fed itself with legume-rich foods. Take my great-grandmother from Lake Como — raised on a diet of polenta and lake fish — who had never heard of pizza prior to the 1960s. “The mythology [of gastronationalism] has made complex recipes — recipes which would have bewildered our grandmothers — into an exercise of national pride-building,” said Laura Leuzzi, an Italian historian at Glasgow’s Robert Gordon University. Food historian Alberto Grandi took that argument a step forward, titling his latest book — released to much furor — “Italian cuisine does not exist.” From carbonara to tiramisù, many beloved Italian classics are relatively recent creations, not much older than the culinary “blasphemies” from across the pond, like chicken parmesan or Hawaiian pizza. Even more surprising is the extent of U.S. influence on contemporary Italian food itself. Pizza, for instance, only earned its red stripes when American pizza-makers began adding tomato sauce to the dough, in turn influencing pizzaioli back in Italy. And yet, some Italian politicians, like Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida, have called for investigations into brands promoting supposedly misleadingly “Italian sounding” products, such as carbonara sauces using “inauthentic” ingredients like pancetta. Lollobrigida would do well to revisit the original written recipe of carbonara, published in a 1954 cookbook, which actually called for the use of pancetta and Gruyère cheese — quite unlike its current pecorino, guanciale and egg yolk-based sauce. Simply put, Italian cuisine wasn’t just exported by the diaspora — it is also the product of the diaspora. One study even suggests the UNESCO nod alone could boost Italian tourism by up to 8 percent. | Michael Nguyen/NurPhoto via Getty Images What makes it so rich and beloved is that it has continued to evolve through time and place, becoming a source of intergenerational cohesion, as noted by UNESCO. Static “sacredness” is fundamentally antithetical to a cuisine that’s constantly reinventing itself, both at home and abroad. The profound ignorance underpinning Italian gastronationalism could be considered almost comedic if it weren’t so perfidious — a seemingly innocuous tool in a broader arsenal of weaponry, deployed to score cheap political points. Most crucially, it appeals directly to emotion in a country where food has been unwittingly dragged into a culture war. “They’re coming for nonna’s lasagna” content regularly makes the rounds on Facebook, inflaming millions against minorities, foreigners, vegans, the left and more. And the real kicker? Every nonna makes her lasagna differently. Hopefully, UNESCO’s recognition can serve as a moment of reflection in a country where food has increasingly been turned into a source of division. Italian cuisine certainly merits recognition and faces genuine threats — the impact of organized crime and the effects of climate change on crop growth biggest among them. But it shouldn’t become an unwitting participant in an ideological agenda that runs counter to its very spirit. For now, perhaps it’s best if our government kept politics off the dinner table.

Pedro Sánchez is the prime minister of Spain. It’s no secret the world is going through a time of turbulence. The principles that held it together for decades are under threat; disinformation is spreading freely; and even the foundations of the welfare state — which brought us the longest period of prosperity in human history — are now being questioned by a far-right transnational movement challenging our democratic systems’ ability to deliver collective solutions and social justice. In the face of this attack, Europe stands as a wall of resistance. The EU has been  — and must remain — a shelter for the values that uphold our democracies, our cohesion and our freedom. But let’s be honest, values don’t put a roof over your head. And at any rate, these values are fading fast in the face of something as concrete and urgent as the lack of affordable housing. If we do not act, Europe risks becoming a shelter without homes. The figures are clear: The housing crisis is devastating the standard of living across Europe. Between 2010 and 2025, home prices rose by 60 percent, while rental prices went up by nearly 30 percent. In countries like Estonia or Hungary, prices have tripled. In densely populated or high-tourism cities, families can spend over 70 percent of their income on rent. And individuals with stable jobs in Madrid, Lisbon or Budapest can no longer afford to live where they work or where they grew up. Meanwhile, 93 million Europeans — that’s one in five — are living at risk of poverty or social exclusion. This isn’t just the perception of experts or institutions: Around half of Europeans consider housing to be an “urgent and immediate problem.” Housing, which should be a right, has become a trap that shapes peoples’ present, suffocates their future and endangers Europe’s cohesion, economic dynamism and prosperity. The roots of this problem may differ from country to country, but two facts are undeniable and shared throughout our continent: First, the need for more houses, which we’ve been falling behind on for years. For nearly two decades now, residential construction in the EU has fallen short of demand. After a period of strong growth in the 1990s and early 2000s, the 2008 financial crisis triggered a collapse in housing investment, and the sector never fully recovered. The pandemic only widened this gap, halting permits, delaying materials and worsening labor shortages that further stalled construction. Second, and just as urgent, is that we must ensure both new construction and existing housing stock serve their true purpose: upholding the fundamental right to decent and affordable housing. Because as we continue to fall short of guaranteeing this basic right, homes are increasingly being diverted to fuel speculation or serve secondary uses like tourist rentals. In fact, according to preliminary European Parliament data, there were around 4 million short-term rental listings on digital platforms across the EU in 2025. In my home country, cities like Madrid and València have witnessed the displacement of residents from their historic centers, which are transforming into theme parks for tourists. For nearly two decades now, residential construction in the EU has fallen short of demand. | David Zorrakino/Getty Images At the same time, housing is increasingly being treated as a financial asset instead of a social good. In Ireland, investment funds have acquired nearly half of all newly built homes since 2017, while in Sweden, institutional investors now control 24 percent of all private rental apartments. Just as no one would dare justify doubling the price of a bowl of rice for a starving child, we cannot accept turning the roofs meant to shelter people into a vehicle for speculation — and citizens overwhelmingly share in this view. Seventy-one percent of Europeans believe that the places they live would benefit from more controls on property speculation, like taxing vacant rentals or regulating short-term rentals. This is what the EU stands for: When it’s a choice between profit and people, we choose people. That choice can’t wait any longer. Thankfully, with yesterday’s Affordable Housing Plan, the European Commission is starting to move on housing, taking steps that Spain has long advocated. Brussels now increasingly recognizes the scale of this emergency and acknowledges that specific market conditions may require differentiated national and local responses. This will help consolidate a shared policy understanding regarding housing-stressed areas and strengthen the case for targeted measures — which may include, among others, restrictions on short-term rentals. Crucially, the plan also stresses the need for EU financing to boost housing supply. The time for words is over. We need urgent action. A growing outcry over housing is resonating across Europe, and our citizens need concrete solutions. Any failure to act with ambition and urgency risks turning the housing crisis into a new driver of Euroskepticism. After World War II, Europe was built on two founding promises: securing peace and delivering well-being. Honoring that legacy today means taking decisive action by massively increasing flexible funding to match the scale of the housing crisis, and guaranteeing member countries can swiftly implement the legal tools needed to adopt bold regulatory measures on short-term rentals and address the impact of nonresident buyers on housing access. The true measure of our union isn’t just written in treaties. It must be demonstrated by ensuring every person can live with dignity and have a place to call home. Let us rise to that promise — boldly, together and without delay.

PARIS — The blame game and finger pointing following Sunday’s heist at the Louvre Museum kicked off almost as quickly as the seven-minute robbery itself.   France’s far right was quick to assign fault to President Emmanuel Macron and his allies for the brazen, broad-daylight theft of the French crown jewels, accusing them of being soft on crime and failing to sufficiently protect the nation’s heritage.  MEP Marion Maréchal proposed eliminating the €200 cultural vouchers offered to French high school students, a measure put in place under Macron, and redirecting those funds toward protecting France’s “national treasures.” She later called France the “laughingstock of the world” and called on Culture Minister Rachida Dati — who has acknowledged “failures” in securing the world’s most visited museum in several interviews — to demand the resignations of the museum’s director and head of security. “The responsibility lies with 40 years of abandonment during which problems were swept under the rug … We always focused on the security of cultural institutions for visitors, much less for that of the artworks,” Dati told broadcaster M6 on Monday. Jean-Philippe Tanguy, a high-ranking official with the country’s biggest far-right party, the National Rally, accused the French “political and media system’s … soft-on-crime ideology” of being “responsible” for the heist.   In a series of angry social media posts, he claimed that “French museums, like our historic buildings and churches, are DELIBERATELY not secured to the same standard as the treasures they contain.” National Rally President Jordan Bardella called the incident a “humiliation” before asking: “How far will the breakdown of the state go?” Meanwhile, conservative lawmaker Alexandre Portier announced plans to propose a parliamentary inquiry into the protection of French heritage and museum security, as first reported by POLITICO.  Security concerns have long been a point of contention within the museum. Trade unions have repeatedly sounded the alarm over what they describe as poor working conditions and understaffing among security personnel — who have gone on strike several times, most recently in June, amid growing visitor numbers driven by mass tourism. In a bid to modernize the museum’s aging infrastructure, Macron in January announced an ambitious renovation project featuring a new entrance and a dedicated room for the Mona Lisa. The plan — dubbed Louvre — Nouvelle Renaissance — also includes security upgrades such as next-generation surveillance cameras, enhanced perimeter detection and a new central security control room, according to the culture ministry.  As of Monday, the perpetrators remain at large — and the Louvre was closed to the public for a second consecutive day. 

BRUSSELS — Montenegro wants the EU’s help in fighting Russian disinformation as the Balkan nation moves toward membership of the bloc. The small country, which has set an ambitious goal to join the EU by 2028, is increasingly a target for disinformation from those hoping to disrupt its membership bid, Montenegrin President Jakov Milatović told POLITICO in an exclusive interview in Brussels. “I’m very much hoping that in the future we would be getting bigger support from the EU to really fight disinformation and misinformation,” Milatović said, adding he had pitched the idea to EU policymakers and member countries. Moldova, another EU candidate country, has been a favorite target of the Kremlin’s meddling, including vote-buying and disinformation. That led the EU to deploy last month its new cyber reserve — a team of private-sector cybersecurity experts — to Chişinǎu and allocate millions in funding for a hub to fight disinformation. Milatović, who was in Brussels to meet with European Council President António Costa, said “malign influence from third countries” could pose a risk to Montenegro’s accession, and urged the EU to be proactive in countering such threats. “Sometimes, I feel that pro-European politicians in the region of the Western Balkans are a bit left alone by the partners in the EU,” he said, adding that he encountered disinformation “on a daily basis.” ‘END OF THE RACE’ Montenegro applied to join the EU in 2008 and was granted candidate status in 2010. It has closed seven of 33 accession chapters since then and is on track to close five more by December, a senior Montenegrin diplomat confirmed to POLITICO. With a population of 600,000, the tiny Adriatic nation has sought to position itself as the obvious next member of the 27-nation bloc. But it faces potential obstacles, including pro-Serb parties in its parliament, tensions with neighboring Croatia and skepticism in some corners of the EU about enlargement. Tellingly, the issue is not even on the agenda of next week’s European Council summit. French President Emmanuel Macron called in 2023 for the EU to reform itself before letting in new members. But Milatović said that behind closed doors, Macron had come around to the idea of Montenegro’s membership. “I believe that two years ago, before President Macron started speaking with me, he had … one opinion,” Milatović said. “After so many discussions that I had with him,” however, Macron was now “optimistic … about Montenegro’s position in the EU.” “And I believe this is the case also with all the other EU leaders,” Milatović added. “Montenegro is now perceived as a front-runner. But … I do want to see the end of the race, in a sense.” Another potential sticking point is the country’s reliance on Russian tourists and investors. Montenegro has yet to introduce visas for Russians, who can enter the country visa-free for 30 days, and Russians remain the largest foreign investors. “What we are trying to do is sort of postpone it [visas] as much as we can, so that we still keep our tourism sector alive,” Milatović said, adding he was “absolutely” concerned by the influx of Russian cash. “We are a bit in a vacuum now because … we don’t have full access to EU funds.” That said, Montenegro will align its visa regime with the EU “very soon,” he said. Ultimately, while much of the onus is on Podgorica to unite its political forces and deliver promised reforms, the EU also needs to prove “enlargement is alive” and “reforms pay off,” Milatović warned. “The last country that entered was Croatia more than 10 years ago. And in the meantime, the United Kingdom left,” Milatović said. “So this is why I believe that now is the time to revive the process, to also revive a bit the idea of the EU as a club that still has a gravity toward it.”

LONDON — Thought writing a 10,000-word dissertation was tricky? Try managing Britain’s embattled university sector.  As students pack their bags, sort their kitchenware and prepare for the time of their lives at campuses across the U.K., university officials face the headache of keeping their struggling institutions economically viable — all while politicians take potshots at them. “The underlying financial settlement for universities is not really sustainable,” warned Universities UK International Director Jamie Arrowsmith, an organization representing 141 universities.  International students provide significant income to the sector by paying considerably higher tuition fees than domestic students. However, Labour’s bid to slash migration levels means international students are in the firing line. It’s a stark contrast from Tony Blair’s New Labour government in the 2000s, which was “actively encouraging the growth of the international student population,” according to Labour peer and former Universities Minister Margaret Hodge. She recalled writing to Blair espousing how this expansion would increase the U.K.’s soft power: “If you wanted to create good diplomatic connections and promote peace across the world, those student relationships paid off fantastically.” A string of policy changes has left institutions searching elsewhere for cash, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer focuses on disadvantaged British youngsters. A white paper due this fall will outline specific higher education reforms, including calls for universities to contribute more to economic growth. The sector warns it could all be undermined if the government keeps discouraging overseas students from coming to Britain. PULLING UP THE LADDER  Britain’s universities have an enviable reputation. The QS World University Rankings in June put 17 U.K. universities in the top 100, while a London Economics report calculated higher education contributed more than £265 billion in the 2021/22 academic year. It’s little wonder students across the globe want to study here. Anxious about populist parties like Reform UK, Tory and Labour governments have seen fewer foreign students as a way to get numbers down. | Richard Baker / In Pictures via Getty Images But while international students starting in 2021/22 brought net economic benefits of £37.4 billion, they’re also counted in immigration figures — and that’s a headache for the government. Anxious about populist parties like Reform UK, Tory and Labour administration have seen fewer foreign students as a way to get numbers down.  They were banned from bringing family members on all but post-graduate research routes back in January 2024. That decision by then-Conservative PM Rishi Sunak followed 135,788 visas being granted to dependents of foreign students in 2022, nearly nine times the 2019 figure. Arrowsmith said he understood why the policy was introduced, but warned it had hit “the U.K.’s attractiveness” to prospective foreign students, particularly when “other countries have had more open and welcoming policies over the last three to four years.” Home Office figures in October 2024 showed the effect — with an 89 percent drop in visa applications for dependents between July to September 2023 and the same period in 2024. Tory peer and former Universities Minister, David Willetts, said he understood concerns about dependents, but thought it should be made clearer to voters that students are only temporary migrants. “My constituents, when I was an MP, who worried about migration, were worried about [people] coming to Britain to settle, to use the NHS,” he said. “They weren’t worried about a Chinese student doing physics for a couple of years.” Fellow Tory peer and former Universities Minister Jo Johnson concurred, saying people were more concerned with illegal immigration. “They’re a very special category of immigration that’s more akin to tourism or temporary visitors.”  Now, Labour is wearing Conservative clothing.  The Home Office marked the new academic term this week by directly contacting tens of thousands of foreign students, warning them not to outstay their visas and telling them they “must leave”  if they have “no legal right to remain.”  The immigration white paper published this May also planned to reduce the graduate visa — where international students can remain in the U.K. after finishing their qualification — from two years to 18 months in most cases. Ministers have also mooted a levy on fees universities receive from foreign students to reinvest in domestic training. A graduation student sits outside Senate House at Cambridge University. | Joe Giddens/PA Images via Getty Images Johnson, however, said the Treasury didn’t like raising money for a specific purpose, meaning the Department for Education “may be being rather optimistic” in assuming revenue would go towards skills.  Hodge was similarly sceptical: “If it were linked to encouraging international students, but recognizing there might be a cost to public services, I think I’d feel more comfortable,” she said. “At the moment, I’m not sure that it’s anything else other than raising more money.” The moves have also upset the main higher education union. “Unfortunately, the government remains wedded to a funding model that leaves international students propping up U.K. higher education,” said University and College Union (UCU) General Secretary Jo Grady in a statement to POLITICO. She added: “Their fees are essential to the financial stability of the sector, so it is economically illiterate that Labour has refused to lift the Tories’ visa restrictions.”  STRAPPED FOR CASH Though Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson insisted the government will “always welcome international students where they meet the requirements to study,” some have taken the hint — and given the U.K. a pass.  In 2023/24, 732,285 overseas students studied at U.K. higher education providers, a 4 percent drop from the 2022/23 record high and the first fall since 2012/13. The number of student visas granted also fell from its record in 2022 of 484,000 by 5 percent in 2023 and 14 percent in 2024. The drop-off was particularly acute among EU students. After Brexit, European students weren’t eligible for home student status, meaning they paid international fees and couldn’t acquire a student loan.  This led to a 50 percent drop in accepted applicants for U.K. undergraduate study from EU countries in 2021/22, which continued to fall the following two years.  Universities still need to pay their bills.  In 2022/23, U.K. higher education providers had an income of £50 billion, of which 52 percent came from tuition fees — international students paid 43 percent of that figure.  The decline “has … been increasingly difficult,” said Arrowsmith, stressing “one of the main sources of funding that was helping to mitigate the reduction in resource is … no longer quite as stable.”  Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson insisted the government will “always welcome international students where they meet the requirements to study.” | Andy Rain/EPA While international fees rose without any cap, domestic tuition fees were frozen from 2017 until this fall at £9,250. Despite rising to £9,535, the hike in employers’ national insurance contributions hampered extra savings — forcing universities to tighten their purse strings. A Universities UK survey of 60 institutions in May found 49 percent closed courses to reduce costs, up from 24 percent in spring 2024. In the same month, the Office for Students, which regulates higher education, forecast a third consecutive year of financial decline in 2024/25.  “Inflation has been particularly high,” argued Arrowsmith, “That really exacerbated the situation,” particularly when there were “increased expectations” on academic research. It’s little surprise the House of Commons’ Education Committee is investigating potential insolvency within higher education institutions.  The Department for Education reiterated that the independence of universities meant they must ensure sustainable business models. But Willetts and Hodge disagreed on whether increasing domestic fees would improve the situation. Willetts “would love to see a healthy, proper increase in the fees” to put universities “in a stronger position” rather than relying on overseas students. However, Hodge said the “incredibly expensive” university experience was “almost getting to the cost of going to bloody Eton” and the debt was “putting working-class kids off.” OUT OF THE IVORY TOWERS  To show young people university isn’t their only option, the government launched Skills England and funded a growth and skills levy supporting apprenticeships.  But universities don’t think this should come at the expense of international students. And it seems the public agrees. British Future research found 54 percent of people thought international students enhanced the reputation of U.K. universities overseas, while 61 percent thought the government should increase or keep the amount of overseas students the same. Domestic students were supportive, too. “British students appreciated the opportunity of studying with students from other countries,” said Willetts. “It enriched the experience.” Education wonks believe focusing too much on domestic skills could come back to bite ministers — and excessive policy changes prevents what international students, and employers, want most of all: clarity. “They need certainty and stability if they’re going to make decisions,” argued Arrowsmith, stressing frequent alterations under different administrations made “prospective students think twice [about Britain] as a destination.”  The UCU echoed this and felt Britain should be open for business.  “We are also calling on universities to join us in the fight for a more open border policy that will protect the sector, help contribute tens of billions of pounds to the economy, enrich our society and bolster the U.K.’s global standing,” said Grady. A government spokesperson said: “We recognize the valuable contributions which genuine international students make to the economy and the university sector and we want them to continue to come to the U.K.” But they argued: “We are simply tightening the rules so those wishing to stay in the U.K. must find a graduate-level job within 18 months, which is fair for both students and to British workers and taxpayers.”

JALË, Albania — Three and a half hours south of the capital Tirana, a winding road leads down to a 300-meter beach with crystal blue waters and pebbly sand. Here, on the edge of the Ionian Sea, visitors can rent a sunbed for €10, assuming they find parking along the dirt road and don’t mind being within arm’s length of their neighbor.  Ten years ago, the spot was a hidden gem for locals who would camp on the beach — for free. Now, both sides of the road are lined with construction sites, and a big developer promises to make the once-sleepy village a luxury hideaway for the world’s elites. Jalë’s stark shift from a natural and somewhat undiscovered paradise to a hot tourist destination is a microcosm of Albania’s surge in popularity — and the accompanying social and environmental issues the country is facing.  A PROMISING START While much of the world was still in lockdown from the Covid pandemic, Albania opened its doors to visitors in July 2020. Tourists eager to look at something other than their own four walls quickly answered the call, with over 5.6 million traveling to Albania in 2021 — a 114 percent increase over 2020.  But it wasn’t just the open borders that drew people in.  Other European hotspots, such as Italy, Spain and Portugal, were becoming increasingly expensive; Albania offered nature and world-class beaches at a fraction of the cost. Back in 2020, a night in a beachfront hotel with breakfast in August could cost as little as €30, and sunbeds started from €3. While some travelers found their way to Tirana and the beaches through word of mouth, social media lit a fire under the idea of holidaying in Albania. In 2024 Albania had more than 3.8 million posts on Instagram with over 106 billion views, catching up with neighboring and long-established destinations like Italy and Greece. What had been a steady flow of visitors became a flood. In 2023, a record 10 million tourists came — a 35 percent year-on-year increase, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics. In 2024, 11.7 million visited — another record representing a 15 percent increase, according to Tourism Minister Mirela Kumbaro. This year, the government hopes for more than 15 million — all in a country with a population of only 2.7 million. With visitors now generating about 8 percent of the country’s gross domestic product and creating tens of thousands of jobs, one of the poorest countries in Europe can’t easily kick the tourism habit. Europeans comprise the majority of visitors, with Germans, Italians, Poles and French topping the list, local media reported. Unlike other European destinations such as Italy or France, Albania is a smaller country where visitors can explore mountains and beaches in a single day. It also lives in people’s minds as “wild and free and something that you don’t have in Europe,” said Denada Jushi, an Albanian journalist who has covered the country’s rise as a tourist destination.   CONSTRUCTION BONANZA  Government officials seeking to propel Albania into a prime tourist destination have exempted international hoteliers from corporate income tax for 10 years if they build four-star or five-star hotels. The tax initiative was introduced in 2019 but was extended earlier this year until 2027.  “These are major investments,” Blendi Klosi, the member of parliament who proposed the extension, told Albanian media. “This initiative benefits only a specific segment of the sector—those aiming to raise the industry to higher standards.”  The scheme has worked well. Several international brands, such as Marriott International, Meliá Hotels International and Radisson Hotel Group, have opened up, while U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is set to turn an Albanian island into a luxury retreat. Critics warn, however, that the beaches lack sufficient space to accommodate the visitors that such resorts would bring to the area, and that nature is being destroyed in the name of tourism. Already, Vlora Airport, which is set to open soon in the south of the country, has caused controversy over its proximity to a protected area. At the same time, funneling water from inland to the coastal resorts to meet demand has irked activists and locals alike, sparking protests. “Greed has replaced sensible planning — and, for that matter, love of the land, nature, and the homeland,” said Alfred Lela, spokesperson for the opposition Democratic Party.  TOO BIG, TOO FAST  Thrill-seekers can still find less developed parts of Albania to explore, but the days of dirt-cheap trips to the country are largely over.   The average spend per visitor increased 20 percent year-on-year in 2024, with tourists spending €5 billion in the country that year. Experts and businesses argue that more demand means more pressure on supply chains and increased costs from importing goods. And as costs rise, the locals who once frequented the beaches and nature are being pushed out. But it’s not just the higher prices that are giving people pause. “Trash is becoming a big, big problem everywhere. None of the municipalities are able to keep up or do recycling,” said Arben Kola, a tour guide and environmentalist.  Several Facebook groups dedicated to tourism in Albania feature posts from visitors complaining about trash along roadsides or on shorelines, along with laments about construction and high prices. Albania was once “something wild — just camping, youth, fun and nature,” said Jushi, the journalist. “It’s like Monaco now. There’s no space for locals.” 

OPTICS SHORTAGE OF SAND: EUROPE’S IMPACT ON CAPE VERDE’S TURTLE CRISIS Plastic pollution, mass tourism, climate change and poaching all put pressure on a fragile ecosystem, revealing how local challenges often stem from global problems. Text and photos by LUIGI AVANTAGGIATO in Boa Vista, Cape Verde Above, Emilio Garcia Landim, a 29-year-old ranger of Fundação Tartaruga, spots a sea turtle on the beach of Lacacão on Cape Verde’s Boa Vista island. Next, tracks left by a turtle looking for a nesting site along the plastic-infested beach of Porto Ferreira. Plastic reaches the island carried by ocean currents, disturbing the nesting of reptiles that die of dehydration and disorientation looking for a clean place to lay their eggs. Bottom, the carcass of a turtle that died of dehydration, along Varandinha beach. Every summer, thousands of sea turtles climb the beaches of Boa Vista, Cape Verde, for a millennia-old ritual: nesting. Today, however, this process is threatened by several factors, putting one of the world’s largest Caretta caretta turtle colonies at risk. Poaching, pollution, mass tourism and climate change are all putting pressure on this fragile ecosystem, revealing how local challenges often stem from global problems — with a heavy shadow cast by Europe. The most significant threat to these turtles is plastic pollution. And here, the fisheries agreements Cape Verde has with the EU — allowing European industrial fleets, especially Spanish and Portuguese, to operate in its waters — have a significant impact on marine life. Nesting beaches are suffocated by tons of waste carried by currents, mostly originating from fishing activities and dumping along the European and African coasts. The accumulation not only chemically contaminates nests but also creates physical barriers that prevent female turtles from finding safe spots to lay their eggs. A numbered stick marks a turtle nest mapped by volunteers from the NGO Cabo Verde Natura 2000 along the plastic-infested beach of Porto Ferreira. The Cape Verde archipelago is the third-largest turtle reserve in the world, after Oman and Florida. The island of Boa Vista hosts two-thirds of Cape Verde’s turtles. “It’s like looking for a home in a minefield,” explained Franziska Haas, a German biologist and volunteer with Fundação Tartaruga, one of the most active local NGOs. “Often, we have to help them find a safe spot. Some get lost, wander for hours until morning and risk dying of dehydration.” Fundação Tartaruga currently monitors over 30 kilometers of coastline with teams of rangers and international volunteers, many with scientific training. Their work is crucial for identifying nests, protecting eggs, combating poaching and documenting the growing damage caused by pollution. There’s plenty more coastline to cover, of course, but their resources are limited. First, seven-year-old conservation dog Karetta and her handler João José Mendes de Oliveira, a 21 year-old ranger, patrol Santa Monica beach. Next, the remains of a turtle killed for its meat along Varandinha beach. Above, view of the Morro de Areia nature reserve. It covers an area of 25.85 square kilometers, with a 300-meter-wide marine protection zone. Below, ranger coordinator Adilson Monteiro, 28, shows a photograph of a turtle killed by a poacher on Varandinha beach. “Fishermen kill turtles while they are sleeping, during egg-laying. They pierce their necks with a fishing hook called incroque and cut off the rest of their bodies with a knife,” Monteiro said.  Next, a temporary tent used by volunteers of the NGO Bios Cape Verde for turtle monitoring along the beach of Varandinha. Then, there’s overtourism. In the last two decades, Cape Verde has become an increasingly popular tourist destination for Europeans. The islands of Sal and Boa Vista, in particular, have seen massive investment from European real estate groups, resulting in the construction of hotels, resorts and residential complexes along turtle-nesting beaches. But it’s not just the land that’s dangerous, threats to these turtles loom in the water as well. Industrial trawl nets accidentally catch tens of thousands of turtles every year, both in the archipelago and during their migration in the Atlantic and the Mediterranean to feed. And while European regulations mandate the use of exclusion devices, which allow turtles to escape nets, they’re only mandatory for certain fleets and areas, and enforcement is often inconsistent. Top, Cleidir Lopes, a 22-year-old tour guide, washes his horse Morena at Chaves beach. Cleidir is a member of Guardiões do Mar (guardians of the sea), a community of people from Boa Vista who report the presence of animals in difficulty in the water, such as turtles and cetaceans. Next, artificial nests of the association Cabo Verde Natura 2000 Cape Verde along the beach of Porto Ferreira. Below, Helmer Davy, a 22-year-old ranger, sleeps in his tent at the Fundação Tartaruga Lacacão camp in Curral Velho after covering his night shift.  There’s also he impact of climate change to contend with. In many cases, excessive heat causes embryo mortality. Meanwhile, the sex of turtle embryos depends on the temperature of the sand where they lay their eggs, with higher temperatures favoring females. And this growing imbalance could jeopardize long-term reproduction. In the face of all these threats, the volunteers’ night work has become essential; their observations are silent, meticulous, and almost ritualistic. Their teams consist of three or four volunteers and an environmental ranger, and their patrols are organized to the rhythm of a metronome, keeping the time dedicated to each female turtle to a minimum. Some of the volunteers help dig deeper holes, some inject microchips for the census, some note the nest’s GPS coordinates, and some come back to evaluate the turtles’ age, size, health and the presence of wounds. Volunteers Franziska Haas, a 22-year-old German biologist; Simone Ambrosini, a 21-year-old Swiss biologist; Nele Ruhnau, a 23-year-old German medical engineer; and ranger Emilio Garcia Landim inject a so-called Passive Integrated Transponder into the front fin of a turtle on Lacacão beach. They are also seen measuring the length of a shell to assess the age and health of a turtle, help dig holes and move eggs laid in a shallow hole to a hatchery. During breeding season, which lasts from June to October, each female can nest up to three times, digging a flask-shaped hole on the beach, each containing about 100 eggs. The laying lasts on average two hours. The eggs are incubated by the high temperatures of the sand for about 50 days. Still, despite all this work, poaching persists on the island too. Despite commitment from Cape Verde’s government, which criminalized the consumption of turtle meat and eggs in 2018, females are caught at night, killed while laying eggs and sold on the black market where meat can fetch up to €20 per kilo. “Turtles are hunted illegally for their meat and eggs, which are sold by word of mouth,” confirmed Fundação Tartaruga’s Executive Director Euclides Resende. But “in 2024, we documented just six killings on the beaches we monitor, compared to thousands just a few years ago.” The group’s surveillance work is effective, having adopted an innovative approach that uses conservation dogs and thermal technology in 2019. “This allows us to expand the surveillance range and collect evidence for potential legal action,” explained project coordinator Adilson Monteiro. Top, moonlight illuminates an hatchery along the beach of Lacacão. Many of the nesting beaches do not have the most favorable conditions for nest incubation such as the low slope of the beach profile, plastic and the presence of tourists. As a compensatory measure many of the nests are relocated to a controlled incubation area, which ensures the hatching of the young turtles and increases their chances of reaching the sea successfully. Next, a team of rangers and a conservation dog from the same NGO patrol an area at Santa Monica beach. The targeted selection of nesting beaches by a trained team of rangers equipped with night vision devices and conservation dogs has led to a massive reduction in poaching on the coasts of Boa Vista since its introduction in 2018. Below, Denis Quintino, a 31-year-old fisherman, returns to the port of Sal Rei after a night of fishing. But it’s exceedingly difficult to eradicate an activity so deeply rooted in the culture of a place: The meat and eggs of Caretta caretta have always been consumed on the islands. And in inland villages like João Galego, Cabedo do Tarafes and Fundo das Figueira, “Ba pa bela” (catching a turtle) is a true rite of passage. “For my family, hunting turtles was normal. My grandfather did it, my father did it, and I learned from my older brother. Every family in João Galego has always eaten turtles; it’s part of our tradition,” said tour guide Zenildo F. It is this difficult coexistence of tradition and environmental conservation, along with the need for further pollution and fisheries regulations, that makes the survival of Cape Verde’s sea turtles a truly global test case.

NAPLES, Italy — Via dei Tribunali is one of Naples’ busiest arteries, filled with restaurants and shops. Down one of its side alleys stands a bronze statue of Pulcinella, the trickster who has long symbolized the city. In high season, the queue to rub his nose can stretch half a kilometer as tourists chase an ancient Neapolitan good-luck ritual. But locals know that tradition is fake. The statue was erected only in the 2010s, and was largely ignored by Neapolitans. Only in recent years influencers discovered it, fabricated a folkloric backstory, and suddenly no tourist felt their trip to Naples was complete without it. The result is a paradoxical “local” tradition without any locals — and a good example of what overtourism is doing to Italian cities. “The historic center of Naples is dead,” said sociologist and activist Francesco Calicchia, who lives and works in the working-class Sanità neighborhood. “Those streets aren’t neighborhoods anymore. There are no Neapolitans left, no real life left. They’ve become playgrounds, open-air shopping malls.” Sipping a coffee on Via Foria, just outside the tourist grid, he noticed a shirtless man ambling past, dragging a suitcase down the middle of the street. “The problem,” Calicchia said, eying the man cutting across the street, “is that this kind of tourism isn’t being managed or controlled.” Many cities across Italy are wrestling with the same pressures. But Naples — with its tangled history and outspoken residents — offers a particularly vivid case study. Activists, workers, experts and local politicians all argue that overtourism is hollowing out the fabric of the city — and while it’s often touted as a source of money and jobs, they say it mostly enriches the wealthy instead. HOUSING SCARCITY One of the main ways tourism is reshaping Naples is through its impact on housing. “Short-term rentals have grown exponentially in Naples, just like in other Italian cities,” said Chiara Capretti, a municipal councilor and member of Resta Abitante — an association defending the right to housing — as she hunted for a free table in the tourist-clogged San Domenico Square. In some working-class districts, there’s one B&B for every three homes. “If this were happening in wealthier neighborhoods, locals might absorb higher rents and rising costs,” said Ivan Avella, a local urban planning graduate. “But in poorer districts, the impact is much harsher. The area stays poor — but now it’s also touristy.” The result is that residents are being displaced. “There’s been a noticeable increase in evictions,” Capretti said. Giuseppe Giglio, a humanitarian worker who also moonlights as a tour guide in Naples, is one of many pushed out by the B&B boom. The statue of Pulcinella was erected only in the 2010s, and was largely ignored by Neapolitans. | Lorenzo Di Cola/NurPhoto via Getty Images In 2023, his landlord told him he was converting the apartment into a business project backed by state funds to spur investment in southern Italy. For the landlord it seemed easier — and more profitable — to evict Giglio and turn the apartment into a short-term rental. Before his notice period was even up, Giglio woke one morning to find workers already tearing out gas pipes in the next room. “I lost everything and ended up crashing with friends, my cat in tow, until I could move into another place. For a while, I was literally on the street,” he recounted over the phone before his work shift. But what shocked him most was how quickly the whole building was transformed. “That building is still home to families who’ve lived there for generations … but many of them don’t have the tools — financial or cultural — to fight situations like this,” he said. “Four floors, two apartments per floor, all the apartments on my side — first, second, and fourth floors — have been converted into short-term rentals, bed and breakfasts, or student housing.” “So gradually, one by one, long-term residents have been pushed out to make room for tourists and temporary renters.” “I once heard about an elderly Neapolitan woman who lived in the city center and couldn’t get home because the streets were too crowded,” said Gaia Portolano, who works at a tourist infopoint, explaining what it’s like to coexist with overtourism. “A tourist overheard her complaining and told her that she was the one living in the wrong place.” The pressure on Naples’ housing is so intense that local urban planning discussions now revolve around investing in the eastern part of the city, Capretti said, which is full of neglected and abandoned areas. The idea is to “recover lost livability in the historic center by building it in the eastern zone” — supposedly by moving residents out of the city center to make room for tourists. Supporters of the tourism boom argue that platforms like Airbnb can benefit small landlords. However, in 2023 Avella noted that almost two-thirds of Airbnb hosts owned more than one property, and the top five hosts controlled roughly 500 listings. He suggested that means the largest landlords are companies, not people. And even when owners are individuals, they are often from wealthier cities like Rome or Milan, he added. “There’s no redistribution of money locally,” Calicchia said, adding that Naples is being used as a postcard for Italy while the profits flow north or abroad. One striking example, he added, is an ancient residential building in the central square of Rione Sanità. The Turin-based coffee giant Lavazza painted a mural on the façade, blending Neapolitan slang with a street art style popularized in town by football fan murals — and even added a QR code linking to the company’s website. “This is what Naples has become,” he says. “An open-air supermarket for northern Italian companies that come here and take pieces of our neighborhoods.” Some Italian cities and regions have tried to regulate the Airbnb explosion, but local officials say their hands are tied without national backing. | Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images Some Italian cities and regions have tried to regulate the Airbnb explosion, but local officials say their hands are tied without national backing. In fact, critics argue the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has only made matters worse. Capretti, who is part of the left-wing Power to the People opposition party, said new laws make it easier to renovate apartments and change their intended use. She pointed to a 2024 law, promoted by current Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini, which introduced measures to simplify construction and urban planning. Meloni’s government also challenged a law in Italy’s northern Tuscany region that allowed municipal administrations, in agreement with the region, to identify zones where they could set rules and limits on short-term rentals. The central government argued it restricted business freedom and competition. “There’s still no national law on short-term rentals, and that’s obviously a problem for local governments,” Capretti said, adding that municipalities and regions can only do so much. “The real decisions can only be made at the national level.” “We need a national law to set some boundaries,” confirmed Gennaro Acampora, the leader of the opposition Democratic Party in Naples’ City Council. He suggested urban plans to set a maximum percentage of short-term rentals to prevent the displacement of residents. INAUTHENTIC CITIES Visitors are drawn to Naples and to Italy for what they see as authenticity — vibrant street life, colorful murals, food culture and the warmth of local people. But as residents are priced out, that very authenticity is eroding. Critics increasingly describe the city’s historic center as an “open-air fry shop,” overrun by stalls selling near-identical snacks. International chains keep multiplying, leaving locals asking how many pizzerias can realistically fit on a single street. “On Via Toledo, in 46 meters, there was only one food-related business in 2015. By 2023, there were already five — one every 9 meters,” said Avella, referring to one of Naples’ busiest thoroughfares. This proliferation of eateries has displaced important local landmarks. The Pironti bookstore in Dante Square, where generations of students bought their schoolbooks, has been replaced by a tavern. City authorities tried to curb the restaurant boom by allowing new businesses only in certain cases, such as if they offered something beyond food. The unintended result, explained Capretti, is that “now every tavern calls itself a book-osteria.” The boom in food tourism has also amplified long-running waste management challenges. Disposable packaging from takeout businesses piles up in the streets, much of it left by visitors. “In many neighborhoods, it’s now impossible to walk without being hit by the constant smell of frying,” Capretti complained. The transformation is also tearing at the social fabric. The city’s homeless population, once a visible part of central Naples, has been pushed into other neighborhoods. “What happens if I install uncomfortable benches — or remove them altogether? Suddenly, staying isn’t an option. A tourist won’t notice, because they rarely stop,” but residents will, said Adolfo Baratta, an architecture professor at Rome’s Roma Tre University. “In city centers, public restrooms have all but disappeared, and it’s a real problem,” added Baratta. “Someone who needs a toilet is forced to go into a café and consume, or else relieve themselves in the street. You’re being pushed into private consumption because a public service is no longer offered.” This logic, he said, disproportionately affects the poor. “Homeless people are expelled, also because their presence is deemed unpleasant for tourists. They’re pushed out of historic centers and given no conditions to remain. If you can’t even lie on a bench, you’re forced to move. But has the problem been solved? No — it’s just been shifted elsewhere.” PRAYING FOR CHANGE Even religious practices are changing. Churches that once served as gathering places for residents are now tourist attractions, pushing worship out of the historic center. “Of course, places of worship located in areas that have become economically unsustainable lose their community of faithful. And it’s not just happening in Naples,” said Domenico Bilotti, a professor of canon law at Magna Graecia University of Catanzaro. If younger generations are forced to live ever farther from their workplaces because city centers are economically inaccessible, he said, churches and religious associations will take on new roles. “They become welfare providers.” Culture is also tailored for tourists and not locals, often becoming too expensive. “Many things that were free are now paid,” confirmed Marina Minniti, an activist with Mi Riconosci, a group defending cultural workers’ rights. Ironically, tourism often erases the very qualities that attracted visitors in the first place. Avella said that in his research, speaking directly with tourists, he has started to notice some complaints that there are simply too many food businesses and that the city’s commercial life feels increasingly lopsided. “Tourism isn’t going to stay this strong forever,” Calicchia warned. “Without political planning and a plan B, letting it continue unchecked carries serious risks.” He sipped his coffee and told the story of a woman from his neighborhood who once worked as a cleaner. “The lady got a couple of B&Bs to host, and her son opened a bar and also took on a couple of B&Bs. So, you see, tourism can be a way to escape poverty quickly,” he said. “But the problem is there’s no plan B when tourism dries up, like it is doing now,” he added, referring to the recent flattening of visitor numbers in Naples. “She had to close her B&Bs because fewer tourists are coming now. She had to take a job in a restaurant, but that’s only until it closes too, because that too, like everything else, depends on tourism.”

Poland will introduce temporary controls on its borders with Germany and Lithuania as of July 7, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Tuesday. The move follows rising tension over illegal migration within the European free travel zone. Tusk warned on Monday that his country would reimpose checks on the Polish-German border if it found that Germany was sending irregular migrants to Poland, Lithuanian media reported. He also said his country would take measures to prevent illegal border crossings from the Lithuanian side, as Poland had “a lot of effort, money, sweat and, unfortunately, some blood, to make the eastern border with Belarus air-tight.” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday defended Germany’s border checks. “We naturally want to preserve this Schengen area, but freedom of movement in the Schengen area will only work in the long term if it is not abused by those who promote irregular migration, in particular by smuggling migrants,” he said. The interior ministers of Germany and Poland had discussed the situation during a lengthy phone call on Monday evening, Merz said in Berlin. “We are also talking to the Polish government about joint controls in the respective border hinterland,” the chancellor said. In response to Polish media reports, Merz said he wanted to clarify that Berlin did not push back asylum seekers who had already arrived. “Some people here are claiming that there is, so to speak, regular repatriation tourism from Germany to Poland … That is not the case,” he said. This story is being updated.

Overtourism is a growing concern for residents in Europe’s most visited cities. While economies across the region rely on tourism, many locals understandably now feel that the sheer volume of visitors to their communities is overwhelming. Theo Yedinsky, vice president of public policy, Airbnb. Via Airbnb But while some cities — like Barcelona — have spent more than a decade launching high-profile initiatives to ease overtourism, why do so many locals believe the problem is getting worse? A new analysis of official data gives a clear answer: cities are failing to address the root cause of the problem. Indeed, if cities are serious about easing overtourism, they must address the overwhelming impact of hotels. The data tells a clear story on what is driving overtourism in Europe. In 2024 a record-breaking 3 billion tourist nights were spent in hotels and other similar accommodations in European Union (EU) destinations. That’s the equivalent of 80 percent of all guest nights in the region. As tourism in the EU recovered from Covid-19 between 2021 and 2023, total guest nights in the region’s ten most popular cities — including Amsterdam, Barcelona and Lisbon — grew by over 200 million, equivalent to 2.5x. Hotels and other similar accommodations accounted for more than 75 percent of the increase. Across these ten EU cities, hotels and other similar accommodations accounted for five times more guest nights than Airbnb in 2023. > With the data clearly showing that hotels overwhelmingly drive overtourism in > the EU, it is perhaps surprising to see city leaders authorize the creation of > new hotel capacity as they restrict the rights of local families to host With the data clearly showing that hotels overwhelmingly drive overtourism in the EU, it is perhaps surprising to see city leaders authorize the creation of new hotel capacity as they restrict the rights of local families to host. Close to 40,000 hotel rooms were opened in Europe in 2024 alone. And by the end of the year, nearly 250,000 hotel rooms were either under construction or in the planning phase across Europe. In some EU city districts — like Praha 1 in Prague and Santo Antonio in Lisbon — there are now approximately three hotel rooms per five local residents. Via Airbnb A stark example of the approach comes from Barcelona. When Mayor Jaume Collboni announced he was revoking short-term rental licenses to tackle overtourism, he also said the plan would support the creation of 5,000 extra hotel rooms in the city. Barcelona’s policy of forcing guests to stay in hotels instead of with local families will not only fail to ease overtourism, it will actively make it worse. As visitor numbers continue to rise and accommodation options outside of tourist hotspots fall, tourism crowding in the city’s busy hotel districts will increase. History has already shown this to be true. Citing overtourism concerns, Amsterdam and Barcelona both introduced restrictions on short-term rentals in 2018, driving a sharp decrease in local short-term rental numbers. Yet by 2024, total guest nights in both cities had increased significantly, growing by 2.4 million in Amsterdam and 4.8 million in Barcelona. In the post-Covid recovery period from 2021 to 2024, hotels accounted for 93 percent of the increase in guest nights in Amsterdam, and 76 percent in Barcelona. Hotel occupancy and prices subsequently soared, with prices rising by 50 percent in Amsterdam and 35 percent in Barcelona between 2019 and spring 2025. Where Airbnb is restricted, local families and communities suffer. Almost half of hosts globally say the income they earn from hosting helps them afford their homes. And while hotel guests spend money in hotels, for every dollar guests spend on Airbnb in the EU, they spend an average of $2.50 in the local community. Across France, Germany, Italy and Spain, travel on Airbnb contributed a total of $44.6 billion to GDP and supported almost 630,000 jobs in 2024 alone. > Where Airbnb is restricted, local families and communities suffer. Almost half > of hosts globally say the income they earn from hosting helps them afford > their homes. We believe that Airbnb is part of the solution to overtourism because our platform offers a different way to travel. While hotel guests flock to the same cities year after year, the majority of guest nights on Airbnb in the EU — almost 60 percent — were spent outside of cities. Unlike hotels, Airbnb does not rely on major cities for growth. In fact, guest nights on our platform grew faster outside of cities last year. Across the ten most visited EU cities in 2024, over 260,000 Airbnb guests stayed in a neighborhood without a hotel. Airbnb stays in these communities grew by roughly 60 percent between 2022 and 2024. This signals increasing interest from Airbnb guests in locations outside of overcrowded city centers. > We believe that Airbnb is part of the solution to overtourism because our > platform offers a different way to travel. While hotel guests flock to the > same cities year after year, the majority of guest nights on Airbnb in the EU > — almost 60 percent — were spent outside of cities. Airbnb wants to partner with governments at all levels on solutions to overtourism, based on clear data. We believe we are uniquely positioned to provide a more sustainable model for tourism because our 5 million hosts distribute guests and tourism proceeds across communities more evenly than hotels. Tourism that supports hosting makes families and communities stronger. We want to work with governments on a new model for tourism and make it easier — not harder — for families to share their homes. In doing so, tourism can be more sustainable and help more families afford their homes.