'Please visit mid-week': Spanish village overwhelmed by lavender tourists

It’s not only the south of France that famed for its lavender fields – Spain has many too and they’re becoming increasingly popular tourist attractions - maybe even too popular.

Thanks to the rise 'Instagram' tourism, the village of Brihuega in the Guadalajara province of Castilla-La Mancha has become so well known for its purple fields that each summer, thousands flock to take photos in them.

Being located just over an hour from the capital of Madrid mean that it’s easy for thousands to visit on a day trip from Spain’s biggest city, however, the large influx is leading to tensions between locals and visitors.

This year it has gotten so bad that the town's mayor, Luis Viejo, has requested that visits be staggered.

"I recommend that you come visit us from Monday to Thursday, please. It's more difficult on weekends because of the large number of people who come”, he said in an interview with newspaper ABC.

Viejo then explained that Brihuega was completely gridlocked over the weekend due to the sheer number of visitors and that the village is currently trying to come up with solutions to solve the overtourism issue.

"We need to build a park-and-ride parking lot on the outskirts of the historic centre and connect it with shuttle buses” he said.

"Managing such a large influx of people in such a short time is difficult. We work hard, we have a committee, but it's still a large turnout. Let's see if we can get that parking lot ready for next season,” he added.

Of all the blooms in Spain, lavender blooms last the longest. They bloom for more than five weeks, making them good attractions for tourists. Last year Brihuega received a total of 140,000 visitors.

Although Brihuega's popularity is seasonal, the large influx of people it receives during lavender season is not too different from the struggles of other rural locations which see their populations explode during the summer.

This happens in northern Spain in particular, given that the milder summer temperatures draw millions of visitors from June to September but for the rest of the year they remain quiet by comparison.

In August 2024, residents of the village of O Hío protested that their municipality was overrun with tourists during summer by walking for 37 minutes across a zebra crossing, causing a giant traffic jam in the process.

Small towns such as Salou, Peñíscola, Sant Llorenç des Cardassar or Benasque withstand huge visitor numbers that far outweigh their resident populations, but as this is more constant throughout the year, they've adapted to it.

Spain is grappling with the idea of changing its existing mass tourism model given the negative impact it's having on housing and daily life for many locals, with the hope being that it can be diversified, more closely regulated and better distributed across the country.

Brihuega’s old quarter has been designated a Property of Cultural Interest and also has several ancient towers, remnants of the old Moorish wall, ancient gates and ruins of a 12th century castle.