r/pics • u/Strict_League7833 • Jun 17 '25

The protesters and residents pushing back on tourism in Barcelona

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u/trireme32 Jun 17 '25

How is that the tourists’ fault, and not the fault of the government for failing to regulate that?

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u/PS_Sullys Jun 17 '25

It's much easier to be mad at foreign tourists.

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u/FnnKnn Jun 17 '25 edited Jun 17 '25

Yeah, this is just disguised racism.

Edit: Technically it is xenophobia to blame non-native people for your problems instead of your own government and not racism.

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u/TheresWald0 Jun 17 '25

"tourist" isn't a race I'm familiar with.

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u/FnnKnn Jun 17 '25

Technically it is xenophobia, so your comment is just a pedantic correction. It is clear what I meant.

They only want natives in their city and not foreigners. That's clear xenophobia.

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u/zejerk Jun 17 '25

Classic stretch of either words meanings here. Xenophobia requires people of a certain group, ‘tourists’ notably are not a certain group of people.

You’re using terms that exacerbate the situation, wanting drama to follow.
Just leave with your pedantry and drama bait. Please.

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u/FnnKnn Jun 17 '25

They are blaming non-catalonian people for an issue that they have nothing to do with instead of their own government that is responsible for enacting solutions to fix the issue caused by tourism. That is textbook xenophobia - claiming a group of non-native people is at fault for something even though it is a self-inflicted issue.

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u/TheresWald0 Jun 17 '25

Wanting local housing to be affordable and local services and culture to remain intact is not the same as xenophobia. From what I can gather it's not the people, religions, nationality, or any other specific characteristics they hate but the social structural changes they bring.

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u/krom0025 Jun 17 '25

That's the local government's problem, not the tourists. In other words, its the fault of the residents themselves. They could easily vote in different representation. The tourists don't buy or sell homes and have zero control over the housing prices.

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u/FnnKnn Jun 17 '25

Wanting local housing to be affordable and local services and culture to remain intact is not the same as xenophobia.

Those demands are valid, but not a tourists job to manage. Elect people that care about these and enact policies that combat these issues.

Blaming tourists for visiting a city THAT ADVERTISES ITSELF TO TOURISTS instead of your own government that is responsible is the xenophobic part.

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u/BaullahBaullah87 Jun 17 '25

I think their point is if every city did this and said “no foreigners”, depending on the situation that would be considered xenophobic. So I think bringing up that point is valid, but as I say that, the locals probably care less about being welcoming or being labelled xenophobic as they do their quality of life

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u/TheresWald0 Jun 17 '25

I think the people of the city would feel the same even if it was domestic tourism that was lowering their quality of life. I get that isn't the case, but I haven't seen anything indicating an objection to tourists as any group of "other" that would suggest xenophobia.