Q. Too Many Tourists in Iceland?

A. Let's have a calm discussion of the pros and cons. Q. Are there too many immigrants in London? A. How dare you even mention that Far Right trope!

Here’s a calm, nuanced, both-sides-presented-fairly article about whether Iceland now has too many tourists for the optimal good of indigenous Icelanders and the preservation of their culture. From the New York Times travel section:

15 Years Into the Boom, Iceland Asks if It’s Had Enough of Mass Tourism

A volcanic eruption in 2010 put the island nation on millions of travelers’ maps. But is the country’s culture now at risk?

By Stefano Montali

Sept. 23, 2025

“Sometimes it can feel like Iceland is just one big tourist attraction.”

Helga Gudrun, a waiter at a family-owned restaurant in Vik, a scenic village in South Iceland, had just placed a bowl of warm Icelandic lamb soup on the table. Home from college to work the summer season, she was reflecting on the ways tourism had changed the place where she grew up.

Visitors had spurred job growth and helped revitalize the area, but not all tourists follow the rules, Ms. Gudrun said. Farmers have complained about tourists parking on their land and feeding horses without permission. “One horse even died,” she said. And in July, a local paper reported that Vik’s septic system had been overwhelmed by the “sheer number of tourists.”

It hadn’t always been this way. In fact, one event in particular had set it all off.

Iceland boomed in the early 2000s based on some dubious financial gameplaying, which came crashing down in 2008. Then there was a big volcanic eruption in 2010 that was featured on global television newscasts. Many folks became aware of Iceland’s amazing scenery for the first time and decided to drop by.

In 2024, Iceland received about 2.3 million foreign overnight visitors, up from fewer than 500,000 in 2010. The industry has transformed the country, in many ways for the better.

Locals have a saying: Thetta reddast — “It will all work out.” And by many measures it has. But as Icelanders, aided by a longer outlook, begin to take stock of the seemingly irreversible changes around their country, some feel that the honeymoon has come to an end. …

Backlash to mass tourism is not new. Recent responses include protests in Venice, grumbling in Paris and water-gun ambushes by locals in Barcelona. As herd tourism is exacerbated by social media trends and massive cruise ships, its holistic impact is increasingly under the microscope.

“We have to really stop and think,” said Katrin Anna Lund, a professor of geography and tourism, in her office at the University of Iceland. “What do we want to be offering?” …

The issue seemed to be with mass tourism and how, if consistently unchecked, it could deplete Iceland’s unique spirit. “We love to have people from all over the world,” Mr. Dori said, “but we can’t do it at the cost of culture.”

But, change “Iceland” to “Germany” and “mass tourism” to “mass immigration” and the New York Times reporter would be frothing at the mouth about a Neo-Nazi Backlash and the Great Replacement Conspiracy Theory.

Why is the global establishment so mentally unbalanced on the topic of immigration policy?