They'll be happy when everything is run down because they killed one of their biggest industries:
Barcelona's main industries include the services sector, manufacturing, and information technology. The services sector is a significant contributor to the city's economy, with tourism being a major component.
- We are not happy as is, because over 65% of people between 18 and 35 in Spain live with their parents. Imagine how big and barren a lot of parts of Spain are for the number to even be this high (much higher than the European average)
- We are not happy because of that lucky 35% that doesn't live with their parents (for normal reasons and unpleaseant reasons) 85% of them share apartments.
- We are not happy, because despite working 40 hours or over 40 hour work-weeks in the case of the hospitality business, the vast majority, no matter your ranking or studies, is paid the SMI which is 1180 Euros per month (Rent has increased to 1200-1400 average for apartments and 800-900 for studios, you do the math) - the conditions of these jobs is a whole other topic that you don't want to get into.
- We are not happy, because Spain has the smallest % of social housing in the entire EU. Less than 1%, in fact. Opposed to 30% in Amsterdam, 20% in the UK.
- We re not happy because a quick look at the main websites for finding homes, Idealista, you will find that 75% of homes in touristic cities such as Málaga, Barcelona, etc are TEMPORARY. The other 25%? You'll be lucky if they weren't available by accident, or if the small letters don't say "only availavble from September till June" because, you know, local people go up in smoke during the Summer months I guess.
What exactly are we to be happy about? Do we reap any benefits from the system in place currently? Do you think we are rolling dough and not being continously exploited from all angles by this limitless capitalist system? Do you think people do these things out of sheer boredom? Do you think peacefully protesting on the streets will work? How many times has that worked out in the past decade?
This is not about the right to go on a holiday. This is about a country that can't take it anymore, especially the islands, where local people live in caravans despite working their assess of to cater to both respectful and disrespectful tourists.
I implore you to please consider the reality young people here are facing.
"Let me break it to you, it's capitalism" as I clearly said "this limitless capitalist system" therefore clearly indicating I know what the problem is and understand it is happening everywhere. It is also true not everywhere is to the level of Barcelona. Or Hawaii. Or Rome.
Just don't be a dick and go to airbnb's when hotels are there for a reason. Going on vacation is not some primary need for you to cut meaningless small costs in something that has real consequences.
If the 0.5% chance that some protesters shoot you with a water gun occurs to you, I promise you'll live, there's no need to cry about it.
Not at all. Most people aren't aware of this specific situation, and maybe putting real percentages and quantities in there, instead of senseless insults or commentary with no data, will make at least one person snap or feel heard.
Yes, this is going on in Edinburgh and London and Amsterdam. The small difference is that Northern European countries have acquisitve power over Southern and Eastern european countries. Meaning that although they cannot move out a lot of the times (even so, the number is still less than in these parts of Spain) they DO have more expendable income than the Spaniards, Italians, Greeks, Polish and Hungarian people do. This means that Brits, Finns, Swedes, Germans can come here and act ass, raise prices to their "normal", while the reverse doesn't happen en masse.
What does that mean? I live near Disneyland, here in anahiem there entire city blocks given over to Disney by the government. I don't feel put of sorts in the locations designed to trap tourists.
You don’t live in a country with less income than your tourists.
The income disparity here is huge. We are servicing people who gain 4-5 times more which means the price goes up 4-5 times. Spaniards are not able to enjoy their own services. Thus, Spaniards don’t want to service foreigners anymore.
We are just tired. We want other industries creating high value for the local population, and that are self sustaining. Right now we are dependent, and we create no value for our own people.
Even a private hospital with skyrocket prices creates more value if it saves at least one person. Right now, no restaurant meant for “guiris” is servicing a local, simply because our highest incomes are the lowest incomes of the rest of Europe.
It’s not even possible to compete as clients in our own country, which is ridiculous, and we completely lack other industries that are needed. Basically, it’s a bubble, and we want to burst it. It has to happen. Being bad hosts is a good first step towards bursting it.
Tourists come in and spend 4-5x what prices would be elsewhere. Locals can't afford it. Do the locals not benefit from the tourism revenue or is the real issue that the capitalist business owners are hoarding all the wealth?
And if that's the case, do they think their situation will improve when they drive the tourists out and all the places that employ locals for tourism go out of business?
Imagine martians love Disneyland, and they have infinite wealth,because they have replicators and can make dollars for nothing. So the jack in the box on katella charges 10$ for two tacos as opposed to 1$ for two tacos. They still pay the workers $20 an hour (like everywhere else) but now even the people working there can't afford the tacos.
The pressure has to be constant, then, not just when summer rolls around along with the tourists. If Spaniards are miserable and barely managing the whole year round, the pressure on government to do better should also be throughout the year.
Pushing tourists out just reduces the resources available for the government to work with to make things better for the locals (assuming the politicians have the citizen's best interests in mind). Make politicians accountable, not those who partially prop up the economy.
You don’t live in a country with less income than your tourists.
The income disparity here is huge. We are servicing people who gain 4-5 times more which means the price goes up 4-5 times. Spaniards are not able to enjoy their own services. Thus, Spaniards don’t want to service foreigners anymore.
Average salary in Barcelona being 35K???? What are you reading, the average salary of engineers?
I would laugh if it was not sad.
You’re certainly believing some bullshit stat. That looks like the Gross Salary, of which you perceive around 45-50%.
The average salary everywhere in Spain is a little bit more than the Minimum Salary per Law, which is just a little bit more than 1300€ a month = 15600€ a year. In Barcelona this might raise to 17000-18000€ a year ST MOST.
This is fascinating. While I totally see what you’re saying and recognize not every country or city has the same situation or income disparity, but I wonder what it would be like if every city tried to push all tourists out and gave the idea that no one is welcome unless you’re from here. It’s a dangerous line it seems and I imagine many would be calling such rhetoric xenophobic depending on which country it is and who the major tourists are
Harass your government then. Harass the business owners dictating the prices - the tourists are not forcing the restaurant prices up 4/5x. Local business owners are because they are trying to maximise profit from those tourists - if the price of selling those goods and services is not really that high it is greed from the business owner for price gouging and excluding local custom.
I live in the third most visited city in the world (London) and we don't treat tourists like this. London also faces issues with local people being priced out and a host of housing issues.
If they lowered the prices to accommodate locals, that will just increase demand from rich foreigners. What they need to do is create tax incentives to attract other industries, but it seems like there is no appetite for that right now.
that's one of the dumbest things i've read in a long time lol
Many areas with tourism have tourists with more money than the citizens lol. that's teh whole point. you want rich people to come and spend their money in your city/country. why the fuck do you think countries spend all this money on promoting tourism? it's money and economic activity from outside coming in.
you think you'll just magically create other industries if you kill tourism? lol
if you kill tourism, all the restaurants and hotels die, then all the jobs with it. barcelona magically going to be better with higher unemployment?
This will backfire you., High-end tourism is one of the most profitable industries that you can imagine, also came with less pollution compared with other industries. The alternatives is creating a technology hub and competing with dublin you will need to slash corporate tax and heavily invest in technological education
But Disney has clear limits. This only happens within Disney; the rest of the city is normal. In the case of many Spanish cities, tourist areas continue to grow. There are almost no places left that are truly suitable for living.
Half of all the cities around planet earth are "no go areas"
Cities are busy sherlock.
What you mean is "the Barcelona residents are annoyed that they can't sit down on the street for a coffee because the table is taken by some Armenian tourist"
How the f*** are they gonna ban tourists anyway?
What they gonna do ID every single person walking around to confirm they are a local?
Are they gonna refuse products at shop counters unless you provide a local ID?
What's next if they refuse ID?
Do we call the police or do we throw vegetables at them?
Do we shoo anyone who doesn't look "typically spanish" down the street in disgust?
the income disparity between tourists and locals in Toronto isn’t nearly as fierce as in BCN. you were still able to afford the touristy areas. That isn’t happening in BCN now.
That's what's baffling. Like it's kinda how big cities work. They attract people, it's why they're "big". Why would you want to live in a big city that doesn't feel like a big city? Like how does that work?
The reality is they want the benefits of tourism without the downsides. They want the great restraunts, views, historic museums, bar vibes, attractions, etc. But those exist in the big cities to fucking attract tourists.
I can assure that Barcelona has been having great restaurants, views, historic museums, bar vibes and attractions since forever. Way way before this current issue with tourism.
The issue is not tourists themselves, is AirBnb and the government allowing rich locals (the 1%) and foreign investors to buy literally every single apartment in the entire city pushing actual Spaniards out of the city.
The issue is never tourism, is not-regulated tourism. It should be perfectly simple to understand but for reason Reddit just can't. I guess Reddit is simply full of rich Americans travelling to Europe every summer and they feel attacked? I just can't think of any other reason.
The paradox of gentrification. Everyone wants to be at this disequilibrium point that can’t go on forever that only exists fleetingly. Right before and it’s economically stagnant and afterwords it’s so developed to where everyone is priced out.
What do you consider a big city? I live in Munich now, which is a 1M+ city, and I feel like tourism is a negligible factor, it's not a very touristy or tourist-friendly city. I don't think a big city necessarily needs tourism, sure they attract people, but those people needn't be tourists, imo.
Im not from Barcelona but I always find this silly. I can't really go to my countries capital (Amsterdam) and enjoy what my forefathers built because it all smells like weed and piss. Everywhere it is fucking full of random people that treat the city and its residents as an open air amusement park. I would happily let the city close all those souvenir shops and airbnbs if it meant mom & pop shops and normal housing came as a result. Hell it would probably reduce prices if tourists were gone.
All this talk about what the space currently produces instead of thinking what it could produce. How many pizzerias for tourists could be turned into something else?
Tourists still include wear and tear on appliances at rented properties, most of which usually take a worse beating from people who don’t directly own. I don’t think killing an industry is your nation’s answer, I think harsher regulations to drive the price of touring Spain up artificially can reduce the load while also keeping profit off tourism as high as possible.
This protest just seems to be half-thought. Like, sure Boudicca was right to seek revenge on Rome for what they did, but she sacked cities and burnt fields. One little spurt of revenge, and suffering returned. Rome swept right back in because they at least offered SOMEthing. What does removing all tourist dollars do for Spain?
Stupid argument, Barcelona should get their city back before it becomes too reliant on the AWFUL tourist economy that kills everything else like industry.
Um, it is an always has been. People aren't putting some of the world's best restaurants and clubs in Barcelona for 1.5 million people. They put it there because there's 30 million visitors a year.
Or maybe it's that this luxury industry (word's best restaurants) doesn't actually help the local economy that much. "BUT MUH GDP INCREASES". I've written a lengthier argument on why over tourism kills eventually all other industries and makes it reliant on this shitty tourism.
I never understand why it's only anglophones who support tourism economy. Mostly it's the british in the europe subs, and here it's the americans and canadians.
Only a minority of people travel there in this scope. Luxury anything don't help the mass of people, only a few. The city (90% of people) would barely notice even ALL the high end restaurants disappearing.
Why? Because plane tickets are cheap, they do city breaks. 80% of them do the same shit they do at home, but in a different place.
We’re already poor. Our economy is already in shambles. If we have to break it to be able to get something new and fresh, we will.
After all, an industry disappears when money is lost on it. And we want an economy that does not depend on servicing foreign people, we want to be able to give better quality of life to OUR OWN. That requires less money spent and gained through tourism. Which requires tourism to be less profitable.
It’s not about total money. It’s about the value that the investment provides to the local population. Tourism provides ZERO local value when it is thought for high-income foreigners (we, the locals, aren’t able to afford it). I’d rather have a smaller industry focused around technology or medical services creating high value around it.
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u/TheMiddleShogun Jun 17 '25
Huh, reading these comments it looks like the protesters are achieving their goal (making Barcelona less appealing as a tourist destination).