AP® Spanish Language and Culture review sheet from Aim for Five (aimforfive.com/spanish/units/5/5-6)
Unit 5 · Topic 5.6
5.6 Travel and Tourism (Viajes y turismo)
This topic is about travel and tourism and their effects on the places people visit. You'll compare the benefits of tourism, like jobs and cultural exchange, with problems like overtourism, and explain what makes tourism sustainable.
Key terms
- el turismo sostenible
- el ecoturismo
- el turismo masivo
- el destino
- el alojamiento
- el patrimonio
Why tourism matters
Tourism is a huge industry in the Spanish-speaking world. Spain received a record 93.8 million international tourists in 2024, according to its national statistics institute, and it's the world's second most-visited country after France. Tourism is also vital in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica and Peru.
Benefits include jobs, money from abroad, and cultural exchange (el intercambio cultural). Tourism can also pay to protect heritage (el patrimonio): ticket income helps maintain monuments and parks.
Overtourism
Overtourism (el turismo masivo, la masificación turística or el sobreturismo) happens when too many visitors overwhelm a place. Residents complain about crowds, noise, rising rents and neighborhoods where shops serve tourists instead of locals.
In 2024, residents of Barcelona, Mallorca and the Canary Islands held large protests against mass tourism. Barcelona's city government announced it would stop renewing the licenses of its roughly 10,000 tourist apartments (los pisos turísticos) in 2028 so they return to the housing market. Supporters say housing for residents comes first; opponents, including many apartment owners, say it hurts people who depend on that income and won't lower rents much.
Sustainable tourism
Sustainable tourism (el turismo sostenible) tries to bring the benefits of visitors while limiting the harm. Ecotourism (el ecoturismo) focuses on nature and local communities.
- Costa Rica protects about a quarter of its land in national parks and reserves, and nature tourism is central to its economy.
- Ecuador doubled the Galápagos entry fee for foreign adult visitors to 200 US dollars in August 2024, partly to manage the pressure on its fragile ecosystems.
- Machu Picchu in Peru uses timed tickets and daily visitor limits to protect the site.
- The Camino de Santiago, a pilgrimage route across northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela, brings visitors on foot through small villages that would otherwise see few tourists.
Vocabulary
- el destino (destination), el alojamiento (lodging), el albergue (hostel), la temporada alta / baja (high / low season)
- ticket: el billete (Spain), el boleto or el pasaje (much of Latin America)
- hacer turismo (to sightsee), hacer las maletas (to pack), el/la turista (same form for men and women), el viajero / la viajera
- la huella ecológica (ecological footprint), la vivienda (housing), el alquiler (rent)
Language toolkit: conditions and counterarguments
- Si + present, present or future: Si viajas en temporada baja, pagas menos.
- Si + imperfect subjunctive, conditional: Si hubiera menos cruceros, la ciudad respiraría mejor.
- Answering the other side: Es cierto que…, pero… / Algunos dirán que…; sin embargo… / Aunque el turismo crea empleo, …
Worked examples
Try each one yourself first, then open the solution.
- Example 1
Answering a counterargument in the essay
Essay prompt (in the style of the exam): ¿Deberían las ciudades limitar el número de turistas? You've argued yes. Your sources are invented for this practice. Fuente 3 is an audio interview in which a hotel worker says: «Gracias al turismo, mi familia tiene un sueldo fijo». Fuente 1, an article, reports that rents in the old town rose 40 % in five years as apartments became tourist rentals. Write the counterargument paragraph in Spanish.
Show the solutionHide the solution
- Step 1: State the opposing view fairly and cite where it comes from. Ignoring it makes your essay weaker; naming it shows you understood all the sources.
- Step 2: Concede what's true: tourism does create jobs. Es cierto que… is a natural way in.
- Step 3: Turn back to your position with a contrast word (sin embargo, pero) and evidence from another source.
- Step 4: Explain why your position still holds, ideally by showing that limits don't mean getting rid of tourism.
- Step 5: Use the conditional or a si-clause to show variety in structures, which helps the language score.
Answer: Model paragraph: Es cierto que el turismo crea empleo. En la entrevista de la Fuente 3, un trabajador de hotel explica que, gracias al turismo, su familia tiene un sueldo fijo. Sin embargo, limitar el número de visitantes no significa eliminar el turismo, sino organizarlo mejor. Según el artículo de la Fuente 1, los alquileres del casco antiguo subieron un 40 % en cinco años porque muchos pisos se convirtieron en alojamientos turísticos. Si la ciudad controlara el número de visitantes, los trabajadores como él podrían conservar su empleo y, además, seguir viviendo cerca del centro. Por lo tanto, un límite razonable beneficia tanto a los trabajadores como a los vecinos.
Common mistakes
- Writing "la turista" only for women and "el turisto" for men. It's el turista and la turista.
- Confusing el pasaje (a ticket, in much of Latin America) with el pasajero (a passenger), or el pasaje with el paisaje (landscape).
- Arguing that tourism is only good or only bad. The strongest essays acknowledge the other side and then explain why their position holds.
- Mixing tenses in si-clauses: write si hubiera menos turistas, habría…, not "si habría menos turistas".
On the exam
- Travel ads and tourism brochures are classic promotional material. Expect questions about who the ad targets and what it promises.
- Articles on overtourism usually present residents' complaints and the industry's response. Questions may ask you to identify each side's argument.
- Tourism prompts are common in essay practice because the sources tend to disagree. A paragraph that answers the counterargument shows strong argumentation.
Connected topics
Videos
Check yourself
5 questions on 5.6 Travel and Tourism (Viajes y turismo). Pick an answer to see if you got it, and why.
| Indicador | 2005 | 2015 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Visitantes al año | 120.000 | 410.000 | 950.000 |
| Habitantes permanentes | 8.200 | 7.900 | 6.300 |
| Viviendas de alquiler turístico | 150 | 900 | 2.400 |
| Alquiler mensual medio de una vivienda (dólares) | 300 | 520 | 980 |
| Empleos relacionados con el turismo | 900 | 2.100 | 3.600 |
Datos hipotéticos. Texto escrito para esta práctica
¿Qué tendencia muestra la tabla entre 2005 y 2025?
¿Cómo cambió el alquiler mensual medio de una vivienda entre 2005 y 2025?
¿Qué relación sugieren los datos?
¿Qué dato podrían usar quienes defienden el turismo en Puerto Azul?
¿Qué medida de turismo sostenible responde mejor a los problemas que muestran los datos?
0 of 5 answered