‘I towed half the neighborhood’: Entitled tourists block private parking lot in popular vacation spot in southern France, pushing owner to get everyone's cars removed

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Aug 2, 2026 12:30 PM EDT

Does the word 'private' in French mean the same as in English?

Even though it might sound like a dream to own a summer house where everyone loves to go on vacation, it is sure to have its disadvantages.

We can already imagine it. July rolls around, we bid our boss goodbye, and head over to the airport for a few weeks of uninterrupted freedom. The summer house is already waiting for us, having been cleaned and stocked with food by the lovely housekeeper we hired to maintain the house while we're not around. We get there at midday, taking off our big sunglasses and stylish hat, and can practically smell the calm vacation we are about to have in our favorite location in the world.

Then we look around, and we realize the neighborhood is absolutely packed with strangers… all of them are families who had the same idea as us and booked a nice Airbnb in the area. And suddenly our quiet vacation turns out to be not so different from a packed hotel in the middle of the busiest city in the world. Goodbye to the relaxing time we've been dreaming about, hello parking issues, loud music, and trash everywhere.

When the homeowner in this tale realized how much the Airbnbs in the area of his southern France summer home were going to take over the place, he realized there was one thing he had to fight for: the parking. With so many guests coming in the summer, parking became scarce, so he decided to buy the open parking lot and turn it into private property. Unfortunately, that didn't stop people from still parking there. 

No matter how many signs were put up and how many messages were sent to the Airbnb owners, tourists kept parking in the private lot. So the owner did the only thing left to do and got them all towed. Now the guests are demanding the money back for the towing fee, and the hosts are demanding money for the refunds they had to give, but the owner sees no reason to pay any of them… After all, they were the ones trespassing.

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  • 01
    Car getting towed.
    via nomadsoulphotos

    Car getting towed.

  • 02

    AITAH for towing half the neighborhood ?

    My family (wife side) have a summer apartment in the south of France in a gated community, all year there is no parking issue, but in summer, since Airbnb came
    via Octyss
  • 03
    out, it's h_I to find a parking spot since there is no allocated spot.
    via Octyss
  • 04
    There is a place with no clear parking line (imagine a big square of concrete) where everyone can park for free.
    via Octyss
  • 05
    I had the opportunity with 3 neighbors to buy this "parking" to the copropriety (it's like an HOA but with less power here) so we do buyed it last year. We made 6 larges
    via Octyss
  • 06
    parking spaces for our cars with lines and plates numbers in front of each parking spot, and put a gate which is always open for the other neighbors to park here (you can park 3-5 other cars).
    via Octyss
  • 07
    Here in France July and August are 2 months where almost everyone is in vacation so Airbnb and location peak here during this period.
    via Octyss
  • 08
    Last week one of the neighbor I buyed the parking with told me the parking was PACKED and he managed to park only one of his 2 cars on
    via Octyss
  • 09
    a unnasigned parking spot ( his parking spots were taken, mine too and the third neighbor too and every "free" slot too) so he put a warning
    via Octyss
  • 10
    sign telling parking is for resident only and not for anyone else.
    via Octyss
  • 11
    Cue 2 days ago when I come with wife and kids for vacation, I drove by night to avoid traffic and when I got there (3 AM) parking is
    via Octyss
  • 12
    packed I have no choice but to park 300meter (1k feet) from my home.
    via Octyss
  • 13
    Next morning we put a large sign telling cars on assigned parking spot would be towed and text every neighbor to ask for their plate to not tow a resident.
    via Octyss
  • 14
    A blue car getting towed.
    via fr0ggy5

    A blue car getting towed.

  • 15
    Today morning same sh, so we close the gate, phone the police and got everyone towed.
    via Octyss
  • 16
    S-hit-the-fan, bunch of Airbnb people called the cops and homeowners to ask why they got towed and the location was saying "with
    via Octyss
  • 17
    parking" so lot of refund where asked. My phone was ringing non stop today.
    via Octyss
  • 18
    Some homeowners tell me they gonna sue for the refund they got, some Airbnb tenant. told me they will sue for the towing cost. We have everything documented.
    via Octyss
  • 19
    Lots of Airbnb homeowners tell us we ATAH here because we didn't tell them ahead, but we do put lots of sign on the parking since last year when
    via Octyss
  • 20
    we buyed it, they just hadn't come to see it, and they approved the selling of this parking to us so...
    via Octyss
  • 21
    Sorry for the bad english, obviously not my first langage and I'm in anger. right now. So are we TAH here for towing everyone here ?
    via Octyss
  • 22
    OfficialBroccoli Rob NTA. Airbnb has made parking a nightmare in a lot of places. The real issue is owners advertising amenities they don't control.
    via OfficialBroccoliRob
  • 23
    sunrisemisty You warned them, they didn't listen. Tough sh for them.
    via sunrisemisty
  • 24
    Designer Thought2907 NTA, what are they gonna sue for? You getting illegally parked cars towed?
    via Designer_Thought2907
  • 25
    teresajs ΝΤΑ Airbnb owners should not be advertising parking that they don't own. Talk to your co-owners about having other cars towed regularly from your shared lot.
    via teresajs

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neighbors homeowner southern france towing tourists cars Airbnb france summer vacation parking vacation
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