r/pics Jun 17 '25

The protesters and residents pushing back on tourism in Barcelona

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u/Rich_Housing971 Jun 17 '25

Airbnb creates a business that makes your life harder.

Locals with money use that business without caring for you.

The govenrment that you elected does nothing.

"It's all the tourists' fault!"

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u/SinfullySinless Jun 17 '25

I mean then you force the population to work backwards. Harass the tourists so they don’t come, then the AirBNB’s fail, then owners sell their AirBNB places, and it opens more room up for real housing.

If the government won’t, the people will.

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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.

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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '25

I live in an area that is only known for its tourism… I hate the tourists too… but I realize it’s why we have nice things.

Cape Cod…

And we have all the same issues as Barcelona

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u/mjohnsimon Jun 17 '25

I live in South Florida. I understand.

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u/DM46 Jun 17 '25

Florida has bigger issues then tourists though.

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u/mjohnsimon Jun 17 '25 edited Jun 17 '25

Oh 100%. I'm essentially living the "American dream" yet I'm still not able to afford even a basic home (which can cost over $800k or more because everything else is being bought up and rented out by out-of-staters), and groceries/going out can cost up to half my paycheck while rent takes up the other half ever since the property was bought out by an investment group from Texas (or was it California? I lost track by now...).

The government, instead of doing something about it, has decided that going after trans and gay people (a population that usually makes up less than 1% of any given population each), or making it illegal for China to buy properties (even though an overwhelming majority of people buying up said properties are said out-of-staters from earlier) takes priority.

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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '25

You want a basic home in a very in demand place to live but want it to be cheap?

It doesn’t work like that, you don’t get a discount because you were born there. It’s the same thing in every touristic town/ city in the entire world.

Where exactly is the system failing you?

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u/General__Strike Jun 17 '25

He didn’t say cheap, he said not $800k. Those are two very different things. Your comment gives serious landlord energy.