Moment locals in Spanish seaside city shout 'go home' at tourists who fire back 'f*** you'

This is the tense moment a row between locals and foreign tourists enjoying a cycle tour of Valencia ends with the Spaniards shouting "Go Home" and the holidaymakers responding in English: "F*** you". The two groups appeared to come close to blows in a narrow street in Valencia's pretty Old Town, as the incident unfolded on Sunday (October 19).

One of the female cyclists seemed on the verge of tears as she watched on from a safe distance. And shocked bystanders looked on astonished at the scene developing in front of them, coming after a wave of street protests against mass tourism in Spain earlier this year. In a few cases, these demonstrations ended in protestors insulting holidaymakers and spraying them with water pistols. A Valencia-based association - whose name in English would translate as 'Neighbourhood in Danger of Extinction' - claimed overnight the incident on Sunday occurred because the cyclists wanted to cross an area they were holding an event in, following a police eviction and refused to dismount or slow down.

They admitted shouting 'Tourist Go Home' but alleged that the Dutch holidaymakers turned violent.

And using the confrontation to launch a new attack on mass tourism, an association spokesman added: "The residents of Valencia and of the Old Town in particular, are anxious and desperate in the face of touristification and speculation that saturate the neighbourhoods and expel people from their homes.

"The large real estate investment funds and tour operators have become the masters of the city and governments are doing nothing to prevent it or to protect the residents."

Footage of the spat showed a bottleneck developing in a street called Calle Danzas where members of the neighbourhood association had gathered.

The female tourist subsequently seen on the verge of tears was filmed yelling as a bike another was on fell to the ground in the pushing and shoving that appeared to be taking place.

The Spaniards could be overheard shouting 'Fuera, Fuera' which in English would translate as 'Get out, get out, leave' while the tourists, now on foot, walked away.

One of the holidaymakers turned back and then lifted his fist high into the air, chanting to the same rhythm, 'F*** you', followed by the same shout from a female friend.

One of the locals who had been yelling at them responding provocatively by lifting up her top and patting her hand on her bum to taunt them.

An English-speaking former resident described the scenes as "unfortunate".

He wrote online: "I loved the city while I was there. Nobody treated me like this. My dream was to a return to do a Master's degree at the university and at the same time carry on improving my Spanish.

"I just wanted to live simply and with respect towards other people. But if things are like this, I don't know anymore what to think."

One local responded by telling him: "Fortunately the majority of Valencians are not like that."

Another former resident added: "I can't believe this has happened in Valencia. What a disappointment the city I lived in.

"I returned this year and I tell you all it's the most fantastic city I've ever known.

"Are we going to let go of our egos? This creates a terrible image for Valencians."

Spaniard Manel Marquez, a radio founder who defines himself online as an "anti-capitalist and ecologist", insisted: "The tourists, basically the Dutch, don't respect pedestrians in Valencia This is not Rotterdam and you can't cycle anywhere you want.

"The Dutch tour operators should explain this to them. If you don't understand it, don't come."

The neighbourhood group that admitted being at the centre of the row insisted in their statement: "The tense moments occurred because of the intransigence of the tourists who wanted to cross the street where we were holding our event on their bicycles without getting off or slowing their speed.

"Faced with this intransigence, the neighbourhood started shouting: 'Tourists Go Home' and when they heard this, that group of tourists turned aggressive and violent."

The group added: "Beyond this incident, the real violence that exists in the Old Town and many other neighbourhoods in Valencia, is the expulsion from the neighbourhood through violent evictions by the police and parapolice, the daily saturation of public spaces, the inability to rest at home due to noise in the street or tourist apartments, the commercialisation of neighbourhoods and rising prices and the persecution of racialized and vulnerable people, etc.

"For all these reasons, we in the neighbourhood denounce the attempt to criminalise the neighbourhood and housing struggle that has arisen after Sunday's incident.

"The least tourists can do is respect the protests and be aware of how their leisure activities can have a detrimental effect on our lives. Because this is not happening, we say loudly, 'Tourists, go home!'"

Dozens of protests against the effects of mass tourism have taken place in Spain over the past couple of years.