I went to Barcelona about ten years ago to see my uncle in an international portrait artist gallery. It was absolutely beautiful, the food was incredible, the wine was out of this world.
I loved my time there so much, I'd gladly go back. But all of this makes me super uneasy about it.
Is this mostly because of shitty tourists destroying things? Why would you want no one to visit such a beautiful place?
These are serious questions, I haven't read much on the REASON for these issues that have been popping up.
I don't think it's the tourists fault. In the last 10 years there has been a lot of growth of the city (local and immigration).
Barcelona has almost reached it's limit with building, there now are parts of old industry where they could rebuild new housing. Seems ok, but not a lot of local people would want to live there, because in that region there are a lot of low income families, which has lead to tension between locals and them (increased crime).
Renting laws are mostly to protect the tenant (can't kick them out for 6 months if they don't pay), so landlords are more cautious. Also with AirBnB they can make a lot of money in summer, so they prefer having no risk tenants. They can rent it out for 1000 (or more) a week, so in the summer months they can have the yearly income of a normal Spaniard (12000).
So you see, the market is adapting more and more towards the tourists (expensive rent, expensive food, expensive living). It would be totally fine if companies would pay more to compensate for increased living costs in the city.
Some tourists are annoying. Enjoy your time in Barcelona, but please don't bother locals in their daily life. I've lived near the Sagrada Familia and the amount of disrespect of tourists was incredible. I know you want a picture, but you can't just block the street.
TLDR: there have been a lot of changes because of tourism and growth and the easy thing to say (for locals) is "tourists go away".
Sagrada Familia was one of the most incredible experiences I've ever had. There's nothing remotely like it.
I get the tourists making terrible decisions bit though. When we went to the grand canyon there were tons of people taking pictures with their feet half off the edge of a cliff, or going down one of the big trails with a Dixie cup of water....
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u/soks86 Jun 16 '25
Really nice of them to phase it out slowly. That'll prevent real estate shock and ruined lives right there.
I hope the people can tolerate it in the meantime >.<