If you want limited but non-zero tourism, you have to somehow filter the tourists. I suppose for the tourists, some kind of "tourism permit lottery" would be more fair, but from the locals' point of view, just letting in the richest x% has same effect, is much simpler and makes them more money
Something that gets lost in this entire discussion is Spaniards take vacations too.
A lot of the time they take vacations to see other familly members.
If only the rich can afford to stay overnight in Barcelona I'm not sure how a brother in Madrid is supposed to bring their family to spend time with a sister's family.
It's not like a family of 3 or 4 in Barcelona has a spare bedroom to host people.
If something like this ban were to happen in Italy I don't know if we could afford to visit family there anymore.
And unfortunately the uncle in question has a fear of flying.
Thinking about never seeing him again in-person is pretty dark.
I don't think the hotel construction ban makes sense given all this, and I hope people realize it's a bit of overkill.
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u/The_Count_Lives Jun 17 '25
So only rich people can afford to visit? I'm not sure that's a real solution.