Can cities cope with Europe's tourism boom? MEPs debate in a special edition of The Ring

Name: Can cities cope with Europe's tourism boom? MEPs debate in a special edition of The Ring
Uploaded: 2026-09-30T18:30:37+00:00
Duration: 27 min 53 s
Channel: euronews (in English)

00:08Hello there and welcome to The Ring, Eury News' weekly debating show broadcasting to you live

00:15from the Albert Hall as part of Eury News' Tourism Summit. I'm Maeve McMahon, thank you so much for

00:21joining us and this very special edition of course with our live studio audience. In this very special

00:27episode we'll be zooming into the topic of tourism across Europe and asking how it's affecting locals.

00:33We'll be checking if the EU has a role in trying to square that circle of the continent's worrying

00:39housing crisis. A warm welcome to our guests for this edition. Regina Doherty, Irish member of the

00:45European Parliament, a member of the European People's Party in the European Parliament and also

00:50a special committee member of the housing crisis in the European Union. We're also joined by Sergio

00:57González, a Portuguese Socialist MEP from Madeira, a member of the European Parliament's Transport and

01:03Crucial Tourism Committee. So Regina Doherty and Sergio González, welcome to The Ring.

01:16So Regina, let's start with you. Europe wants more tourists, right? But Europeans also want more homes.

01:23Can we have both? I think absolutely we can. I think the volume of tourism that we have seen

01:29increased and it's significant over the last number of years has obviously caused some pinch

01:34points but it isn't the reason we have a housing emergency. The fact that we're not building enough

01:39houses is the reason we have a housing emergency and so when I look at tourism and I look at

01:43how

01:44reliant some of our countries are on it and some of the regions within those countries, I think we need

01:48to fix the problems that arise specifically from that and not then try and actually blame something

01:53that is a positive for all of our nations or most of our nations.

01:57Sergio González, what would be your view there? According to Regina Doherty, it's not the tourism

02:01that's causing the housing problem, it is the lack of actual infrastructure. What's your view?

02:05Yes, actually we've seen it on my island, on my region, as you can understand. Tourism has a big impact

02:13on the island.

02:13It's our largest industry, so to say, and we haven't built enough houses to meet demands

02:24over the past two or three decades. So now we really need more houses in the market. We need

02:31an affordable housing plan like the European Commission presented and we need to do something

02:39to balance tourism with people living in the islands.

02:45But when it comes to actual dwellings itself, according to studies, there are millions of

02:49empty dwellings in cities and rural towns across Europe. They're just lying empty, Regina Doherty.

02:55So when I look at this issue, as we have done over the last 20 months in the Housing Committee,

02:58and we've visited a number of countries to reflect on the different reasons why we're experiencing the

03:04problem, but ultimately the outcome for most of us is exactly the same. We have too few houses and the

03:08ones that we have being built are far too expensive. The housing stock across Europe, of which short-term

03:14lets obviously does feature, is 1.2% of the housing stock. The vacant stock across Europe is nearly 20%.

03:22And so that's why I think I get frustrated when I see the Affordable Housing Act's very first

03:27legislative proposal is tinkering around recommendations for Airbnb or short-term lets that

03:33our municipalities, our local governments, our national governments could already have done if they

03:37wanted to do so. But even with this act, when it passes, won't compel anybody to do anything. So it's

03:42not going to build

03:43a single house. And I'm just frustrated, having worked so long with everybody accepting and acknowledging we know what the

03:49crisis is and how much of an emergency it is, that this is the first reaction of the Commission. And

03:55like, it's not to be

03:56critical, but I am genuinely frustrated, particularly when there are issues that are under the control and the regulation and

04:03the

04:03directives of the Commission of the Parliament, where we could actually amend simplified change, that would have an

04:09impactful outcome, as opposed to tinkering around the edges with recommendations. And that just frustrates me. And I know I

04:15appreciate we're here to talk about

04:16tourism today. And obviously, short-term lets has a positive impact on it and a negative, necessarily, impact on housing.

04:22Well, it's interesting. The topic of housing is dominating the Transport and Tourism Committee meetings as we speak right now

04:28in the

04:28European Parliament. And of course, it's already one year since Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, declared this

04:34housing emergency as a social crisis that we're dealing with right here.

04:37Well, I think that we need to look into funding for new houses. And there is some, well, the signals

04:47that the

04:48Commission presents are not on the right direction. If we need specific measures to implement on specific regions, we need

04:57funding, we need

04:58the regions to participate in defining the priorities, defining the programs, implementing those programs.

05:06So where does that funding come from?

05:07In the Commission proposal for the next MFF, for example, because we need to discuss budget. If we're discussing

05:12funding, we need to discuss the next multi-annual framework. So we see a centralized model that takes from

05:20regional and local authorities the ability to do it. So I think that's the first big change we need to

05:28apply in the

05:30negotiations over the next months so that we allow regional authorities, local authorities to implement

05:39political measures to solve this problem and to build more houses, to bring more houses into the markets.

05:45We've been blaming short-term rentals, but short-term rentals have had a positive impact not only on income for

05:52some families,

05:53but also in renovating and rehabilitation of city centers, many buildings that were obsolete, that were closed,

06:03and now they have an economic use and utility. So it's not to blame short-term rentals.

06:12It also has a problem in inflation. The prices of housing have increased because you also have less stock if

06:22you have some

06:22some of the houses in the short-term rental market. That's obvious, but that's not the only reason.

06:28We haven't built houses. We don't have programs or financing for building new houses.

06:34And people are looking for answers now. I don't know if you noticed, but just this very week, as we're

06:38here

06:39in Albert Hall in Brussels discussing this very issue, thousands of people have been taking to the streets of Madrid.

06:45In fact, many have been camping out overnight, drawing attention to the fact that the

06:49situation in Spain is worsening by day and by night. They're camping out by the Puerta del Sol.

06:55It seems a little bit similar to the Indignados movement, Regina Dari, that we saw many years ago.

07:00So I think just watching Spain this morning and now the decision of the government to actually

07:05potentially ban evictions for a three-year period is a direct response of the inaction that we've seen

07:11by governments arising from something that we all have called a crisis for a number of years.

07:16I don't think there's a single country in Europe that isn't suffering from not enough houses being

07:21built and there's a whole load of reasons for that, but even the ones that are being built for them

07:25being far too expensive for our young people to able to be afforded. We know that with people who have

07:29long-term rentals don't have the same security of tenure that they do in other countries. But

07:33these are things to be fixed by national parliaments and I think maybe some have been more active in

07:38doing so, some less so, as you can see from Spain today. But none of that is going to be

07:42directed from

07:42a European Commission. And as Sergio said, if times were normal, we would be having a conversation as

07:47to how much of the MFF is going to be aligned for social cohesion to build houses, particularly social

07:53and affordable houses for all of our citizens. But as we all know, we're having an entirely different

07:57conversation as to how we're going to get a smaller budget to stretch much farther for things like

08:01defence and security and housing is going to form part of a smaller budget and people can decide

08:06what they want to do with themselves. That's not instructive and that's not really leadership and

08:10showing guidance, I think so. And when it comes to these short-term rentals, do we need a proper

08:14definition for what they are? Well, I think the definition exists, but the thing is, or the issue

08:22is that it affects different regions, different cities in a different way. Not all regions, not all

08:29member states are the same. Are you in favour of them? I'm from their islands. Tourism is important.

08:35As I mentioned before, we're not in the same stage as Spain at the moment, having public demonstrations

08:45against tourism. But how do your voters feel about the short-term rentals? If you look at the recent

08:49survey, 90% of Madeirians think tourism is positive and it's important for the island and for the economy,

08:57but 54% of them consider that we have over-tourism at the moment at the island. This is changing.

09:03We're famous for our hospitality, for promoting the island, for enjoying having tourists on the island

09:13and welcoming them. But now there is this feeling that we already have over-tourism and it also has to

09:20do with social issues, with the lack of housing and the lack of measures to build houses. And as Regina

09:26just

09:26mentioned, we're building new houses, but the prices are not affordable for locals. So it's impossible

09:33to compete when we're building houses. And then we have, for example, American tourists buying those

09:38houses and not locals, young people. There is no social housing. A few 600 houses have been built over the

09:47last three years, also with the IRF funding. Otherwise, we wouldn't have them.

09:52And that's my data. The situation is very serious as well in Lisbon, with locals being pushed out there,

09:56you know, with the tax breaks. It's exactly the same situation. The municipalities and the mayors

10:01have implemented some measures, and I think that's something positive out of the European

10:06affordable housing plan and the act that followed, that the European Commission understands that some

10:13decisions have to be made at local and regional level because it's their competence and they are able

10:19to do it. We need more data, we need specific data on the problem because it's different, as I mentioned

10:28in the beginning, not all regions are the same and this doesn't impact all regions the same way.

10:35And to gather data, a good point, we've seen Croatia implemented its Tourism Act in order to be able to

10:39measure the impact, of course, this over-tourism is having on their environment and sustainability. Is that

10:45something you'd like to see all over you? I think, you see again, different regions are experiencing

10:49different issues and so it's really understandable when I hear Sergio saying that there's young people

10:53in his area who obviously welcome tourists but are frustrated about the fact that there's houses

11:00being rented out and they don't have the houses to be able to buy themselves. If there were houses

11:03being built in Madeira, in Portugal, in excess of what's needed for the tourism industry, we wouldn't

11:08be having this conversation. If there was enough houses being built in Ireland, as there should be more

11:12being built, I probably wouldn't be here having this conversation. We wouldn't have a

11:15housing committee. But now I've seen you've both got warmed up, you've got plenty to say,

11:18we'll just take a little break.

11:24As always, we want to give our viewers a real glimpse, as I said, inside the hemicycle and see

11:30how you actually point at each other, ask each other questions, sometimes upset each other. That's

11:35exactly what you do. Sergio, would you like to kick off please with your first question for Regina Doherty?

11:39Well, I would ask a question regarding your political family, PP. So you've been arguing that you should

11:48spend more on competitiveness, on defense, while also opposing to new resources and shifting funding

11:58away from social priorities. You have been a former minister and specifically for social protection.

12:07Is this something that you envision, envisaged for the next MFF? This shift and the different

12:15priorities that we have at this moment that are harming social priorities and taking funding away

12:22from them. So it's a very good question and you obviously, even though we've only met today, you

12:25know me so well. I am a former social affairs minister in Ireland for five years. The particular

12:32issues and particularly the pillar of social rights is incredibly important to me. But these things don't

12:37happen by accident, they happen with money. They happen with targets, they happen with ring-fenced money.

12:42And as you're aware, and I'm sure this happens in other parties too, I find myself on the opposite

12:47side to my party with a lot of these social issues. And I really believe we can actually have

12:52competitiveness and investment by also investing in our young people, by addressing the poverty gaps,

12:57by making sure that people have a roof over their head somewhere to call home. They're not mutually

13:01exclusive. If we don't look after the young people today with the youth guarantee of 20 billion,

13:06we're going to have nobody in 20 years time to pay the pensions of the people like me who will

13:09be

13:10retired in 20 years time. And so they're definitely not mutually exclusive. So I'm not really probably

13:15answering the question except to say I do find myself not only trying to convince my EPP colleagues

13:20of the merits of supporting the social issues that I believe in, but then sometimes find myself voting

13:25against them, which I'm happy to do because I live with my own conscience and I really know what the

13:29right thing to do is. And do you lose friends because of it? You know, as you know what politics

13:34is

13:34like sometimes you do, sometimes it'll last for a few days, sometimes it might last longer. But

13:39you know what, doing the right thing, there's never a wrong time to do the right thing. So

13:42that's just the way I feel about it. Okay, Regina. Sergio, you're, er, Regina, excuse me,

13:46your question now. My first question. So because I've spent so much talking about the housing

13:50issue for the last couple of years, and I know you're not on the housing committee, so I'm sorry if

13:54I'm putting you on the spot. I put in 400 amendments to the housing report. I really felt

13:58that we put our heart and soul into recognizing what the top maybe three or four issues, big ticket

14:04issues that the commission could do. And then the commissioner came out last week with the housing

14:08act that kind of tinkered around the edges. How do you think we can better work together as the

14:14center group of parties to make sure we actually deliver a piece of legislation that's going to

14:18make sure it's easier to build, build, build, and not, not do the easy stuff first?

14:24Well, I think we share the, the frustration you mentioned being a member of the, of the special

14:30committee on housing. I'm not on the, on that committee, as you know, but we discussed it in

14:34the, in the trend committee on transport tourism. And I totally agree that we need to do more.

14:40And it, this, this proposal from the commission lacks ambition. So we, we need specific funding for

14:47housing. We need the decentralized model on the MFF, as I mentioned, to allow regions and, and

14:53local authorities to participate and to define their own priorities, uh, on several issues and

15:00social issues of, of course, are one of them. Uh, I think there are some good signs and in the

15:07act,

15:08uh, for example, uh, reducing complexity, cutting red tape, uh, for example, with regards to, to state

15:16aid. So having the, the exemption for affordable housing, I think that's, that's very important,

15:22but then we need, we cannot discuss this only focusing on tourism, uh, specifically on short-term

15:29rentals and on building more houses. For example, in my region in Malera, we need to look at, uh, uh,

15:36the economy, uh, as a whole and the, and the, the impact that tourism has and understand that if our

15:45main

15:45industry is tourism, tourism isn't known for paying high salaries compared to other industries.

15:52So we're stuck in a trap. So we also need to discuss, uh, the diversification of our economy,

15:58creating new jobs, betting on, for example, AI, new technologies, new jobs, uh, qualified jobs with

16:07higher salaries so that young people have the right to stay. And we also have a new strategy

16:11on the right to stay presented by, by the vice president Fito. So we need to look at all the,

16:17these strategies together in order, in order to solve this. I think that if, if we are pro-Europeans,

16:23not only worried about our retirement, uh, but, uh, uh, with the, with the future of the European

16:29Union, we need to stick together and to, and to present amendments and to, uh, and to push the commission,

16:35uh, at least for, for being more ambitious. But then like if we are talking about an emergency,

16:41a crisis, we all acknowledge like in my own country, we need to be building 50,000 houses a

16:46year just to satisfy demand. We're only on 38, 39,000. So there still is barriers in across the

16:52European Union. We're told we need to build millions of houses. And again, we know what the

16:57issues are from a European competency, what can actually be done to try and alleviate, simplify,

17:02put the financing on board. And you absolutely are right to acknowledge, and I apologize,

17:06I didn't do it earlier on. The, the changing of the stay date rules is a game changer, particularly

17:10for municipalities to be able to afford to, to financially support social and affordable

17:14homes in our member states. But there is so much more to be done. Um, and I think I'm just

17:20frustrated at the pace at which we're doing. And I'm sure our viewers are too, especially those

17:25eight protesting this week in Madrid, uh, sleeping in tents, in fact, by the Porta del Sol,

17:29very reminiscent of the days of the Indignado movement many, many years ago. But now we have

17:35heard from our MEPs, and I'd like to bring in another view.

17:41So for our quote of the week on this edition of The Ring, I'd like to bring in the voice

17:46of

17:46Eduardo Santander. He is the CEO of the European Travel Commission. He was speaking here live,

17:51and he had some very profound words. He said, climate change is the biggest threat to tourism,

17:57right now, by far. He said, we see that trains cannot run sometimes because the rails are expanded

18:03because of the heat. And we saw this on the cruise lines because of the European rivers. They couldn't

18:07run because it was too dry. This is a topic that we have not touched on yet in this debate.

18:12This is

18:12a huge issue for you. It is, uh, I have, I have to, to give you a concrete example. Uh,

18:20I'm from an island.

18:20We have one airport. Uh, the second airport is on a second island, uh, on a two and a half

18:26hour, uh,

18:28distance by ferry. And we have lots of, uh, constraints at the airport due to the high winds

18:35that we get due to the, to the global warming and climate change. And that is something that we need

18:41to find alternatives. We, I also believe that, uh, and going, uh, uh, slightly into a different subject,

18:50we have a strategy for the outermost regions, which, uh, which I will also be the rapporteur,

18:55uh, for the parliament. And I think that we can, uh, take advantage of these regions as laboratories

19:03to test new technologies, to test new solutions that then we can export to the, to the other,

19:09uh, member states. And, uh, it's something that we need to address. And, uh, just one example,

19:14I didn't mention before with regards to housing, also having the one size fits all, um, uh,

19:21perspective from the commission will not work because when we're building new houses in Madeira,

19:27we have regulation that, uh, uh, obliges construction companies to build houses as if

19:33they were building them in Northern Sweden. So it doesn't work for us. The climate is different.

19:39There is climate change, there's global warming, but still Europe is very diverse. So it's, it's an

19:44issue and we need to address, but also with the, with the local perspective and respecting the,

19:49the principle of subsidiarity. But now we just take a little break.

20:01Another island witnessing global warming is Ireland. Of course, we're seeing temperatures

20:05and beaches flooded, almost looks like Portugal now, the beaches of Ireland, but the country is

20:09clearly ready. I'm, I'm somebody that's old enough that when I was in my twenties and thirties,

20:15you went to Portugal, Greece, Spain on your holidays, like that's where you went because we didn't, it

20:19rains all at the time in Ireland, right? And so the only place you're getting a bit of freckles

20:23is going away. Um, this year we had an amazing summer, but it was what we would expect a normal

20:30summer to be in Portugal. And I went to Athens for five days with my husband to see the Acropolis.

20:36And it was 38 degrees every day, which rendered the holiday nearly impossible. So if you didn't

20:42stay beside the sea to jump in and out every 10 or 15 minutes, you just weren't coping.

20:46That's a far greater threat to our tourism industry on the entire continent of Europe than Airbnb or

20:53short-term lets will ever be. And yet now we're only going to start having that conversation and

20:57maybe it's no longer a priority. It's no longer a political priority, despite the fact that it's

21:01now September and it's 30 degrees in Brussels this week. I know. So like when I, when I see us

21:07talking

21:07about 1.2% of the entire housing stock is a problem, um, when we actually should be really talking

21:13and

21:14concentrating on the real issues because I mean, Ireland as a nation is an island native. We didn't

21:18have tourism. One of our pillars of our economy would literally fall flat. You're the same. Um,

21:25the real threat to that, and actually maybe it's of Ireland's benefit. And when you can't go to

21:28Portugal on your holidays anymore, you'll be able to come to Ireland because it will only be in the

21:3220 degrees, but it's an enormous problem that we have to address. And I don't think we've actually

21:36even started having that conversation. And of course, the trends are changing indeed when it comes

21:40to travel preferences. You can read more about them on your news.com, but now it is time to move

21:44on to our next round. So as always here on the ring, we like to find out what's keeping Europeans

21:54up at night, regular citizens back home on their sofas. Well, according to the latest Eurobarometer,

22:00lack of affordable housing right up there on top 51% after that unemployment and lack of job

22:07opportunities underneath lack of quality public services, followed by poverty or homelessness.

22:12Now, this barometer comes, of course, just on the cusp of 2027 when we're ready for big elections

22:18taking place in France, Italy, Poland, and Spain. Your reaction?

22:24Well, uh, I think it's, uh, it's an example of some, uh, um, uh, lack of alignment between

22:32the European priorities and our discussions. Because there's no security and defense written

22:36there. No security and defense. That's what I was going to mention. So we're, we're cutting,

22:41uh, budget. So we're cutting funding for social priorities, for social issues. Uh, we're betting

22:47on defense, on security. Uh, we're centralizing the cohesion policy, which is our largest investment

22:53policy in the European Union. And I'm a strong, uh, believer that, uh, the, the biggest or the

23:01best investment we can make in defense is cohesion policy. It's not defense and security. It's not,

23:08uh, a budget for, for, for, for military. Would you agree with that?

23:12Do you know, I don't know. And it's funny, I say this to you coming from Ireland where we're

23:15the furthest little island and don't, you know, for me, Russia is hundreds of thousands of miles away.

23:20Um, but when you talk to colleagues from the European block countries, um, there's a real

23:26fear and I can appreciate and understand why security is incredibly important for them. And

23:30it rarely comes up in conversations at home, albeit that that is changing because of our

23:35infrastructure and our lack of ability to be able to look after our maritime or, you know,

23:39our, our IT infrastructure. Um, but if you, if you go back to the poll, like number one, number two,

23:44and number four in that poll could be addressed if we built more houses and we built them faster.

23:48And so we'd address the cost of living and giving people a roof over their head. We'd address the

23:53homelessness issue by building more houses. We'd address the employment issue by giving millions

23:57of people jobs, building houses with quality jobs of, you know, quantity surveyors, architects,

24:02engineers, like, because people are leaving. We need to be serious and the polls are, and actually

24:06they're leaving to go to Australia, New Zealand and build the homes over there. So, you know,

24:11we need to make sure that we address these issues to look after our own citizens. Similar situation in

24:15Portugal. Uh, yes. And, uh, just, uh, just to be clear, it's, uh, this doesn't mean that I don't

24:20think defense and security should be a priority. We, we are in the opposite side of, of Europe,

24:27of the European Union, but we have borders with the United States, maritime borders, Madeira and Azores.

24:32Uh, we have the submarine cables in our territory that we need to defend and protect. We have the shadow,

24:39the Russian shadow fleet in Portuguese waters every day. So we have also, uh, challenges and defense,

24:46and, uh, and defense issues to, to address. What I mean by, uh, having the, uh, the cohesion policy

24:53as our strongest or best investment for defense is that, uh, we are completely doomed when the,

25:00the Portuguese feel that they don't need to, to be solidarity with the, with the Polish, or when the,

25:06the Spanish feel that it's a Romanian problem. It's not a Spanish problem. That's why we need

25:11to stick together and to, and to have the, the, the cohesion policy still as our main policy,

25:17because it, it, uh, addresses the housing issues, but also many of the other issues that we are

25:23discussing here. Okay. And that's the big discussion in Brussels, the battle over the bottle,

25:27over the budget that we're following very closely on Euronews. Well, now it is time for our fifth and final

25:33round.

25:37And as always here, we do something a little bit different. We ask you questions and you're

25:41allowed answer with yes or no. Is that feasible? For politicians? No. Impossible. Indeed. Well,

25:49let's, let's give it a shot. Does Europe have a problem with over tourism, Regina? Yes or no? No. No.

25:55Is mass tourism sustainable? Yes or no? No. If we fix the problems? Yes. Should tourists pay more taxes?

26:05Yes or no? The EU doesn't have a competency on taxes. That's a responsibility of local and

26:10member states to make up for their own mind. So no? No. Should tourists pay more taxes,

26:15tourists who come to Madeira? No, depends on regions. Should portals like Airbnb face tougher rules?

26:21Yes or no? Yes. Yes. Should local communities have the right to ban cruise ships? Yes or no?

26:29Again, yes, depending on regions. It's up to them, yes. I see everything needs a little bit more context.

26:35Should the EU have a direct role in fixing national housing crisis? Yes or no? No. I say that they

26:43should

26:43allow them to have the tools, but it's their decision. I think they should fix the things they're

26:50responsible for, which is a great start with simplification, the financing, the state aid

26:55rules, things that we actually have control over from a European competency perspective,

26:59not fiddle around with stuff that local governments can do themselves. And will the EU affordable

27:03housing act, will it actually lower rents for young people? Yes or no? I don't think what we have so

27:08far

27:09is going to build a single house and so therefore no, it won't. Sergio, yes or no? As it is

27:14now, no.

27:15And are you optimistic that the housing problem in Europe can be fixed one day? Yes or no?

27:20Yes. Hell yes.

27:22Gonzalez and Regina Doherty, thank you so much. You have been our guest this week on The Ring.

27:26Thank you so much to our audience. Thank you so much as well. To all those back home,

27:30if you would like to get involved in the conversation, you can write to us,

27:34thering at yournews.com. That is our email address. Take care and stay with us here on Euronews.

27:44Thank you so much.

Can cities cope with Europe's tourism boom? MEPs debate in a special edition of The Ring

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