Protesters have refused to leave three zebra crossings in a Spanish village to block tourists from visiting its beach.

In scenes resembling The Beatles’ Abbey Road album cover, around 80 pedestrians in Hio, Galicia repeatedly crossed the road on Sunday, causing long tailbacks.

Villagers are unhappy about the traffic congestion caused by an influx of beachgoers in the summer months.

“This is not tourist phobia – it’s about locals’ right to live in peace,” said Mercedes Villar, the leader of the Hio residents’ association behind the protest.

The co-ordinated roadblocks at three zebra crossings lasted around 20 minutes and caused several drivers to turn around and seek alternative routes.

Ms Villar said villagers had unsuccessfully demanded action from the local authorities to reduce traffic. They also want to prevent the overuse of beaches, which she said were becoming “degraded”.

Hio, on the Morrazo peninsula, is known for its wild beaches and attracts visitors from across Spain. Frustration among Galicians over their presence has given rise to an increased use of the nickname “fodechinchos” – applied to brash or rude tourists, typically from Madrid.

The word, which regularly trends on social media, originally refers to tourists who stole the catch from local fishermen.

But now, according to Anton Losada, a Galician writer and journalist, it covers visitors who “ignore warnings of dangerous rip tides” or “don’t like to hear us speaking our Galician language”.

The owners of a popular bar-restaurant in Mera, Galicia, announced that they were closing in the busiest week of the year between Aug 12 and 19 to avoid the “stress and strain” caused by rude Spanish tourists.

On reopening last week, the Puerto Martina bar put up a sign saying: “You are now entering a fodechincho-free zone.”

Elsewhere in Spain, there have been large protests against the impact of mass tourism in the Canary and Balearic islands and Barcelona this year. Common complaints have included the saturation of beaches and services by mainly foreign visitors. 

Foreigners make up around 30 per cent of the total annual visitors to Galicia. Many of these are drawn to the pilgrimage walk to Santiago de Compostela as opposed to the region’s beaches, which are more popular with Spanish visitors.