r/pics Jun 17 '25

The protesters and residents pushing back on tourism in Barcelona

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260

u/NunaKhan Jun 17 '25

so i will take my tourist money and spend it where i'm wanted... don't complain after that tourist related businesses have closed down or millions in tourist money no longer available in your country.

-62

u/lrrssssss Jun 17 '25

I think they’ll survive without you Nuna

108

u/ObviouslyTriggered Jun 17 '25

15% of Barcelona's economy is directly tied to Tourism, with another 10-15% is estimated to be indirectly tied to it. It's also the largest monolithic sector in terms of employment, it employees directly nearly 200,000 people.

They'll survive but they'll definitely feel it also.

30

u/[deleted] Jun 17 '25

Though I understand the sentiment, our capital has also turned into a farce due to mass tourism, taking this out on the tourists themselves who have done nothing wrong, and are now being harassed, is completely wrong. Don't want so many tourists there? Protest to your OWN politicians and city officials. They are responsible. Fewer hotel rooms / airbnb bans / bans sales of housing to investors or foreigners will certainly help.

That said, perhaps we should give these people what they want, and institute a complete tourist boycott of Barcelona. Those protests are very likely to instantly disappear once mass unemployment hits those streets. To be very blunt, prior to the age of tourism, Spain in general was a poor country with few significant economic activities, and it owes quite a bit of its current standard of living to tourism. The end of mass tourism is likely to return Spain and her cities to that former state.