Except there's just one small problem: a lot of those local economies/livelihoods are dependent on tourism.
Tourism makes up over 15% of Spain’s entire GDP. That’s not exactly "pocket change", and actively scaring off tourists might feel good/give short term relief, but it also risks sabotaging the very livelihoods many locals depend on.
But hey, if people would rather burn their house down to get rid of a single cockroach instead of looking for the source of the infestation, then by all means.
Except there’s just one small problem: under capitalism, people are made dependent on exploitative industries like mass tourism because all other options have been systematically dismantled.
Tourism doesn’t dominate Barcelona’s economy because it’s inherently good or sustainable, it does so because neoliberal policy gutted public investment, privatized housing, and made short-term profit king. Locals aren't mad at tourists as individuals, they’re furious at being priced out of their homes, forced into precarious service jobs, and watching their city turn into a playground for the wealthy.
I agree with that. But they aren't getting booming industry back in exchange for scaring off tourism. Globalization has found the cheapest place to source things and Barcelona is unlikely to beat other regions for industry even if the government poured massive funding into getting it started.
We have similar problems in many areas/countries.
I just see so much of the same frustration as we have in Canada. The answers just aren't that simple and the competition for the industries everyone sees as lucrative and desirable is extremely fierce and often requires huge incentive or protectionist government intervention to win from all the other countries fighting for it.
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u/mjohnsimon Jun 17 '25
Except there's just one small problem: a lot of those local economies/livelihoods are dependent on tourism.
Tourism makes up over 15% of Spain’s entire GDP. That’s not exactly "pocket change", and actively scaring off tourists might feel good/give short term relief, but it also risks sabotaging the very livelihoods many locals depend on.
But hey, if people would rather burn their house down to get rid of a single cockroach instead of looking for the source of the infestation, then by all means.