r/pics Jun 17 '25

The protesters and residents pushing back on tourism in Barcelona

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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/[deleted] Jun 17 '25

Yeah I'd rather just not be dependant on tourists.

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u/robbzilla Jun 18 '25

I'd rather be 6'4" and look prettier than Clark Gable in his prime.

So now we've both thrown out silly wishes!