Tourists are scared of visiting a Spanish city over fears of hostility from protesters, a travel association admitted. Vice-president of the US ASTA travel association, Mark Meader, acknowledged that some Americans have been afraid to go to the popular destination of Barcelona because “they thought they were going to be shot with a water pistol“.

The comments came at the World Summit of Travel Agents Associations in Jaén, Andalusia, where the industry sought to allay traveller concerns over a perceived sense of anti-tourism, following waves of protests. Mr Meader added: “Travel agencies have a very good opportunity to educate the consumer in a complicated world. They will be able to give sufficient reasons to travel to a destination.”

The phenomenon of water pistols at protests began last July, when an activist group in Barcelona said it brought water guns to shoot each other to stay cool, but some turned their water pistols on tourists.

“What happened later went viral, but in reality it was just kind of a joke by a group of people who brought water guns because it was hot,” Adriana Coten, one of the organisers, told The Associated Press.

Images of tourists being blasted by water spread online, and in April, the same group, the Neighbourhood Assembly for Tourism Degrowth, stopped a tour bus in Barcelona.

Travel association ABTA has gone so far as to produce a guide for its members, so they can understand how to minimise tourist concerns over anti-tourism in places like Majorca, Barcelona and Tenerife, reports the Majorca Daily Bulletin.

Its director of institutional relations, Susan Deer, said that in the last 18 months, a lot of UK travel news has been related to anti-tourism, some of it in Spain, so “travel agencies are concerned about what to do about their clients’ concerns”.

However, she claimed that tourism has been largely unaffected, which she attributed to the work of the agencies, stating: “It has not changed travel habits. People have not wanted to stop travelling to Spain, despite the topics in the media.”

The Balearic Government has also reportedly been working with UK and German travel agencies to reassure the main markets and guarantee that the Balearics are a safe destination where tourists remain welcome.