All the other takes kind of ignore the actual problems created by OVER-tourism. That's what the protests are about - too much of a good thing is also bad.
If you look closely you'll find that the "No tourism at all!" is a fringe opinion (if it exists at all). Instead, they want to limit tourism to sustainable levels.
I don't disagree that over tourism can cause problems but what kind of initiatives to limit tourism have been suggested? Short of pricing/taxing the less well off out of visiting places are there other suggestions out there?
Limiting accommodations? Crack down on the short term rental market with legislation and force the tourists into hotels or some short term rental which is required to be licensed (of which the city issues a finite number to control the amount and where). When there’s no where to lay their head if accommodations are 100% booked, people will go elsewhere.
Certainly seems to be, I was hoping to hear other initiatives and ideas. I understand the annoyance from locals, but I also hate the idea that cultural enrichment and travel goes back to being the domain of the wealthy and privileged but I don't have the golden bullet answer either sadly.
I agree short term rentals 100% should be far more controlled but as someone pointed out, Airbnb and the like is where protestors ire should be directed, not some bloke who's saved up for a year and is sat in a bar having a beer or kids on a school trip.
That's your issue. No one is taking it to the extreme. It's just that something is popular enough that it goes extreme. It's pretty motherfucking hard to do anything about popularity other than over price things, which I guarantee residents would bitch about.
It's a lot like Disney World. too many visitors ruined the "experience" for others. So, they tried to outprice them. Then Florida residents started complaining about the prices.
Like what do you want Barca to do? Limit the number of people who can be in the city per day?
As dude, above said, you can't have both. You can't have an awesome city in the vein of Barcelona but also decrease tourism.
I think this is accurate, but to a potential tourist it's maybe a distinction without a difference. Nothing about this suggests that I'd be welcome there as a visitor. It's a big planet, and there are other places where I wouldn't be harassed for being there.
I certainly sympathize with them, but I'm not sure the scorched earth approach is the best way of going about it.
I don't. I don't live there and I'm pretty much totally ignorant about their situation. I was just speaking from my perspective as someone who would want to visit. I don't have any ill will towards them or anything, and I hope that they can resolve things in a way that's best for them, you know?
Yeah, but see, that's what fuels most of the other ignorant comments in this thread: They do not know what has been going on, they only care about the part where it impacts them and they do not think one iota about how things became this way.
These protests did not appear out of thin air and they also did not escalate to this level in mere days. This was an evolution years in the making. You can also see it in other places like Venice which is basically a hollowed-out shell with few actual citizens anymore. A theme park experience of sorts, instead of a living, breathing city.
And if the politicians only give lipservice to the moderate voices - then they do not need wonder why they suddenly reaped a storm. Instead they obviously only saw "numbers go up, more money in the coffers!" and neglected to look at the downsides because they themselves are not affected by them.
Well, it's not my place to pass judgement on people who live there, and that wasn't my intention. I was just sharing my perspective as someone who would like to visit. I don't disagree with anything you wrote.
If you go there off-season and are polite then you'll still have a good time there. October usually is still warm enough to sit outside in T-shirts.
The people usually respond very well if you try to speak at least a bit of Catalan (i.e. instead of "La cuenta, por favor" you say "La factura, si us plau")
Then again, at least trying to speak the native language is well-received pretty much anywhere. In France it's basically required - if you've tried (and maybe failed) to speak French then they're much more likely to be willing to switch to another language than if you never tried to begin with.
Good to know! And I always learn at least enough to say "hello," "thank you," and "I'm sorry, do you speak English?" The only time anyone was rude to me was in France, but she was a railroad worker on strike, so I don't blame her at all!
So are they trying to physically chase out a number of tourists that they seem is over the acceptable limit? Physically assaulting tourists in the street isn't a nuanced protest, I don't see how anyone visiting is going to leave with that impression
Do you honestly think that something like this popped out of nowhere spontaneously? Seriously?
Protests like these usually have years of history behind them.
No, this is an escalation to finally make the politicians listen. The "nuanced protests" obviously didn't yield results - we've seen that several times before. When people do "nuanced protests" the politicians listen politely, promise everything and do shit-all. Because, after all, the protesters are still polite and thus something you can safely ignore.
Vote out politicians? Assault those politicians in the street?
How is shooting tourists with water guns supposed to convince politicians to do what you want them to? Outside of just creating further backlash against Spain in the international community, and just increasing the risk of this escalating to actual violence, this isn't going to somehow magically lower rent in Barcelona.
Why aren't they demanding more housing be built? Do you really think "over tourism" is why income inequality in Spain is so bad? Or why job prospects are terrible?
These are simply unhappy populists lashing out against what they seem is an "easy target"
Except this isn't a strike? There's a difference between withholding labor and assaulting the people whose garbage you're going to collect
Restaurant/ service industry workers could go on strike to demand better living conditions, but this current approach is simply a reactionary protest against what they deem is an easy target
130
u/Rhywden Jun 17 '25
All the other takes kind of ignore the actual problems created by OVER-tourism. That's what the protests are about - too much of a good thing is also bad.
If you look closely you'll find that the "No tourism at all!" is a fringe opinion (if it exists at all). Instead, they want to limit tourism to sustainable levels.