Barcelona hates Tourists....?

[AnnMeredithPerkins]

www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/barcelona-locals-hate-tourists-why-reasons-spain-protests-arran-airbnb-locals-attacks-graffiti-a7883021.html

Surely without tourist money they would be in a bit of a hole? I get they have too many tourists and its making it expensive, but should they really be making visitors angry with their graffiti and beach protests?

If i saw this picture about a place i was planning to visit - i'd change my mind

From the article above
"Imagine you’re walking down the street in the city you’ve been dying to visit for months, or even years. You’re in a good mood because you’re on holiday; the sun seems to shine brighter than usual and life feels good. But then you turn a corner and stumble upon a piece of graffiti that reads: “Tourist you are the terrorist".

You ignore it, attributing it to some angry guy with a sad life who probably doesn’t get out all that much. But a few metres ahead you see another troubling line: “All tourists are bastards”.

A few steps further on: “Stop destroying our lives!” And after that: “Why call it tourist season if we can’t shoot them?”

Barcelona was noticeably more crowded last year than when I visited ten years ago. It's ridiculously cheap to fly there from the UK and I guess with Airbnb raising rents it must be tough for locals. As someone who was priced out of my own hometown because it became fashionable with ex-Londoners, I do sympathise.

Right now a lot of people aren't going to destinations such as Tunisia or Turkey, so apparently a lot of Spanish destinations have been particularly crowded this year.

Governments could try hitting Airbnb where it hurts by issuing fines for every unlicensed property listed on the site - I believe in Barcelona (as well as some other cities such as Berlin and New York), you have to have a licence to rent a whole apartment to tourists or for short-term rentals. Airbnb would be a lot more particular about the properties it took on if it was going to have to pay for every property in those cities that flouted these rules.

Sorry that you're moving away, Chica. It is a wonderful city.

TrinityTaylor
Everyone should stop going and give them what they want, when all the shops bars restaurants etc close and people start losing their jobs they will be begging tourists to come back

I agree. Last time I looked unemployment in Spain was 17% and 40% for the under 25s. Any guess what it would be without tourism?

I lived on an island popular with tourists for a few years back in the noughties. Locals would complain bitterly about tourist behaviour and the crowds but when the credit crunch hit tourism receipts badly, people starting panicking.

And quite rightly so. A lot of businesses just went under. And it wasn't just cafes, restaurants, bars and shops, it was a lot of their suppliers too because demand shrank massively. And the knock-on effects of that meant professionals (lawyers, accountants etc) lost a lot of clients and tradesmen (who would have done repairs etc) found themselves scrabbling for work. It even affected public services as refuse collectors found their rounds a lot shorter, and the local authorities used it as an excuse to cut their hours and wages.

Tourism needs properly managing, but I've also seen what happens when tourism dies. In some places, the death of tourism can pretty much kill the economic opportunities in the area and the only employment option is for the young to move away, which then split up families and communities until you only have the elderly left.

It's a tricky one.

Spain is rammed this year because fewer people are going to Tunisia and Turkey - and also the zika virus is still putting some tourists off of their usual holidays, so they are looking for somewhere safe and cheap.

I sympathise with people living and working in Barcelona. Airbnb has a lot to answer for. Yes, tourism is a big chunk of the local economy but it must be very difficult not to be resentful of an influx of people whose very existence means that you can't afford to live in your own city. Similar to the situation in Cornwall - and other locations throughout the world. Amsterdam has also been badly affected by Airbnb.

I understand a bit. We live in Devon and summer can be awful, tourists are downright dangerous, and more and more entitled as each year goes by.

I doubt that we have to cope with anything like what Barcelona does.

Barcelona has the combination of AirBnB and cruise ships. It's massively changed the number of tourists they have in a short time and how locals can use their city.

Not surprised a significant number of people are fed up. Same in Venice. It's pricing local people out of housing and changing daily life - a market that used to be for shopping for food for locals is now a tourist attraction, local shops now sell tat for tourists etc etc.

Plus cruise ship tourists are generally there for one day, they rush in to a very small space and rush out again. Barcelona is having another port built for cruise ships so it's only going to get worse there.

It's because everyone goes to the same places. They want to be "seen" (and of course, take selfies) at the "in" cities - Barcelona, in particular, is seen as being very cool and the place to go.

But there are 1001 other wonderful places you could go to.

It's the same here. "Everyone" goes to Cornwall. Where I live, "everyone" goes to West Wittering, you'd never think there were any other great beaches within an hour's drive.

If people were more adventurous, it would be better.

And of course you have more and more Chinese getting passports and wanting to travel. It's a big country with a very large population - the tourism "problem" is only going to get worse without some creative thinking. There was a great article in the Times about this today.

It's the same in touristy places in this country. My niece lives somewhere very beautiful and much visited. For a long time, she and her partner (both with long-term, stable, relatively well-paid jobs) could only afford to rent for 9 months of the year, and had to move back in with his parents over the summer because of the hike in rental prices. I noticed her immediate surroundings hit the press recently with the local police actually telling visitors not to come unless they had booked accommodation in advance.

(Not convinced how much money it puts into the hands of the local population barring a few wealthy property owners and resteranteurs, either. My other niece does hotel cleaning work over the summer, cash in hand for less than the minimum wage - because there is no other work up there and the hotel owners know it.)

it is unhealthy to be so reliant on a single and quite fickle industry

This. All it will take is one terrorist attack and the visitor numbers will plunge, for example.

I think people who live in areas with little to no tourism underestimate the impact tourism has.

I grew up in a tourist town. I can't count the number of times I was late for school or work because idiot tourists assumed everyone else was on holiday and wanted to dawdle along at a snail's pace either on the path or the road with no consideration for people who have school or jobs or appointments to get to.

The total disregard for the town itself - rubbish everywhere, parking inappropriately, being drunk in the street at midday and shouting "fucking cunts" at the top of their voices with kids walking past.

Oh, and can't forget having to smile sweetly at tourist after tourist who'd make jokes about our language and the old racist jokes about our country, but you can't call them out on it because "I pay your wages, your town would crumble without me".

I lived in Barcelona for 4 years. I only ever went to the tourist areas during the winter because they were hellish with ignorant or drunk tourists otherwise. I taught a weekly class in one a of the 2 towers by the beach and had to allow twice as long as the lesson was for to get through the swarms.
I saw a drunk English member of a stag party pissing into a children's playground in a placa off las ramblas. The residents had banners displayed saying that it was a dignified neighbourhood and asking for respect so it's not like this problem hasn't been building. Isn't the marina in Barceloneta (which is where the locals kept their boats) only for superyachts now? 5 years ago people in El Raval were being intimidated out of their block to get around a new rule which meant holiday apartments couldn't be in residential buildings (not sure if this is still in place).
I intentionally lived out of the tourist areas but heard and saw more and more tourists in my barrio as time went on. As a pp said, tourists forget others aren't on holiday and I know people who had massive issues with single air BnB flats, hostels or hotels
I did laugh at the photo, it's so very Catalan. So is the piss or rubbish which might get thrown down from a balcony in some of the tourist areas - maybe a bit of graffiti isn't so bad

The last 5-10 years tourism in major European cities has skyrocketed beyond anything that can be sustainably managed. In Amsterdam for example some streets and areas are just completely insanely busy year round - you can hardly move for the heaves of people. It's a tiny city. And that's before you think of the nuisance tourists that come thinking Amsterdam is a party haven (it's not!!! drugs are more ubiquitous in the UK and clubs stay open later). It is just really noticeable and Barcelona is one of the cities that is so absolutely insanely crowded. AirBnB causes huge problems in the rental market but even if that problem gets solved, what do you do about the crowds?

Airbnb has exacerbated the problem. Let's say there is a block of 8 flats, a 4 story building with 2 flats per floor in Barcelona. In one flat, the owner decides to do Airbnb. The other 7 residents have to put up with the flat above/below/next to them being used as a hotel - people banging wheely suitcases up and down the stairs scratching the paintwork at all hours of the day and night, shouting in the communal staircase and making antisocial noise in the flat like late night parties or smoking and talking loudly on the balcony, as well as more people occupying the flat than is perhaps wise (e.g. with sofa beds - people renting the flat would not tend to live like this). Then the landlord of another flat in the block realises that he can make much more money Airbnb-ing it to tourists than having a renter so the tenant is kicked out or subjected to a rent hike without ant increase in their wage (Spain is coming out of a recession).

Add to this the disgusting behaviour of tourists that I have witnessed in many occasions, utterly failing to respect the signs that have been in place for years to remind people that it's a residential neighbourhood, instead shouting, fighting, pissing, having sex, getting naked, damaging property, littering and drinking to excess at all times of the day and night. I am not surprised that Barcelona 'hates' tourists.

AirBNB is a huge problem and massively distorting the rental market.

Moreover, people who stay in AirBNBs tend to not be huge spenders (having breakfast, lunch and dinner in their apartment) They tend to not eat out as much as tourists in hotels so they are not pumping as much money into the economy.

It is time for AirBNBs to be licensed and taxed properly.

We use air bnb regularly and spend a lot of money in the cities we visit. We aren't anti social or disruptive at all.

This thread has highlighted some food for thought though

The very beautiful town in Ireland d where my relatives live out a stop to stags and hens, the hotels just wouldn't take the bookings. Only to do a total reversal when the Celtic Tiger failed
I saw a report on the local London news a few weeks ago about a woman who rented out her house near Wembley to someone who was going to a concert there. The house got completely ruined, it was shocking. Inherited furniture went missing, beds and carpets had to be thrown out due to sick and piss, the whole place had to be redecorated. At first I wondered what a dump her house was originally but they showed photos of how it was before and it had been lovely. AirBnB took no responsibility, they are just an agency and give no guarantees and offer no back up or recourse. AurBnB needs serious controls.

I live in a tourist place and have to walk past street homeless people while hundreds of units of rental housing disappear because of AirBnB. Its a real problem.

And when I go to Venice, I speak Italian. I'm one of the very few people who bothers. And the Venetians always respond with surprise and happiness. If tourists behaved better, and acted as though they are guest rather than rowdy, loud, ignorant arses, there would be less of an issue.

AirBnB is a great idea but it needs some controls placed on it, just like Uber but that's another thread!

They should do what NYC has done and ban AirBNBs.

This isn't new though. 5 years ago we saw signs along Las Ramblas saying "English go home" and "We were here before tourists came, we'll be here after you've gone".

I dislike the semi-disguised nativism that underlies a lot of the anti-tourist feeling. I have some sympathy with the whole economic criticism but I think I have yet to encounter any of these anti-tourist groups who don't, at bottom, come out with "this is a local place, for local people" kind of sentiment.

It's another reason I love London. There are lots of tourists in London but somehow we manage not to get really bent out of shape about it.

I use AirBnB and also am a very quiet person. And we never eat in our apartment either. However in Venice for example our apartment was owned by someone in Treviso who had clearly bought it as an investment - nice for him but otherwise it would have been bought by a Venetian, or his investment would have been renting it to a local family.

Equally in Venice we stayed for 16 nights as we are art obsessives and explored a lot. But when you see the huge cruise ships come down the Grand Canal it doesn't take a genius to see it's doing damage - they are bigger than the biggest buildings FFS. And the passengers mainly stay in San Marco and take their selfies which crushes all the other businesses and makes it vile for everyone else.

thecatfromjapan well said. Why can the view "foreigners go home" get sympathy? Complicated