A Spanish holiday destination beloved by British sunseekers looks set to introduce a city-wide ban on organised pub crawls. Barcelona, in the country's Catalonia region, is one of the world's most popular tourist destinations, with stunning architecture, delicious local cuisine, and fresh sea air.

But in recent years, many locals have become increasingly frustrated with the sheer number of people who visit from overseas, and claim overtourism is "killing" the city by pushing up living and accommodation costs. A number of marches have been held, with demonstrators holding up cards saying "go home", and others seen squirting people in tourists with water pistols.

Various clampdowns have been launched in response to residents' concerns, including local curbs aimed at businesses organising bar crawls to various establishments offering cut-price drinks to reduce.

Restrictions are already in place in the districts of Ciutat Vella and L’Eixample since 2012 and June 1 this year, respectively, aimed at reducing the number of boozed-up revellers in the streets.

The measures are mainly focused on nighttime hours, from 7pm to 7am, as per the city council's Barcelona International Welcome, a municipal service set up to support international talent.

According to the support service, a new decree introduces a permanent 24-hours-a-day ban that will apply to the whole city.

It reports that the new text has been initially approved and a public consultation period that began on August 7 will continue until September 4.

After that, and when any changes have been made, the ban is expected to come into effect and be in place for four years, as per the organisation.

A Mayoral decree said: "Although these are the two districts [Ciutat Vella and L’Eixample] where the practice of alcohol routes has been detected more openly, it is considered very likely that this practice will spread to other districts of the city, which is why it is considered necessary to approve a new Mayoral Decree that extends the ban to the entire city of Barcelona and without a time limit, that is, throughout the year, given that the presence of tourism in Barcelona occurs throughout the year, and at any time of the day."

According to reports, while pub-goers won't be subject to punishment, organisers could be hit with fines. In Ciutat Vella where the measures have been in place for years, organisers and promoters can be fined up to €900 (around £776), Catalan News reported last year.

Tourism is a crucial moneymaker for the city and Spain as a whole, and while some residents aren't happy with the heaving crowds, they insist they aren't opposed to tourism in general.

During protests in June, one demonstrator told BBC News: "Our goal is not to stop tourism, because it's also good, but to have it at a normal rate."

National and local authorities have launched various other measures to address the housing crisis.

For example, Barcelona announced plans last year to phase out the 10,000 apartments licensed for short-term rentals by 2028, to provide more housing for permanent residents.

The Spanish government has also proposed curbs like a 100% tax on property purchases by non-EU residents.