To consider cancelling holiday to Barcelona?

[EveryoneButSam]

We are meant to be going to Barcelona next week and I have been watching the news feeling more and more concerned about it! I think if it was just dh and me I'd feel differently but we'll have 2 dc with us. Our travel insurance will only pay out if the foreign office advises no travel so realistically we'd probably lose the majority of what we've paid for flights and accommodation. I can't decide whether cancelling would be sensible or overly cautious. Anyone else in the same situation or have any better insight into what's likely to happen next week?

Hi, I live in Barcelona.

The scale of the situation has been escalating rapidly every night. However, it is concentrated in a small, central area. The regular mass tourism continues as always. No tourists are getting caught in the crossfire.

You may have issues travelling between cities if that's part of your plan, as roads are being closed regularly.

Mass action is scheduled for the 26th (next Saturday), but the exact nature of it is still under wraps.

My sister has been in hols in Barcelona this week and it’s been fine - they’ve been careful to avoid certain areas but not been caught up in anything

We were meant to be flying out tomorrow morning at 6.25am.

We’ve cancelled our flights and accommodation, we were going for DS 13th birthday and were advised by friends living in BCN not to risk it with DS in tow.

We’ve been lucky as we’ve been able to get our accommodation transferred at no extra cost and our flights were less than £100 for the 3 of us so while I’m gutted (and it’s cost us extra for flights and accommodation elsewhere) for us, we made the right decision.

Visca that was really reassuring until I got to the last sentence - we're flying on 25th and I guess I was worrying that things would quieten down in the week and then start up again at the weekend 😬

Edersons sorry you've had to cancel your holiday. At least you didn't lose much money, hopefully you'll be able to rebook somewhere else.

I’m in Spain now (south0. Sorry, there have been riots in Barcelona.

Me and dd are travelling to Barcelona at the end of November. I’m hoping all will be sorted by then. If I was going next week, I think I would definitely consider cancelling.

Hola visca :)

We live in Barcelona, it's crazy. Nasty little bastards are trashing their own neighborhoods, throwing glass and have also been some throwing acid at police.

My friends husband is a policeman and he's had to go out, she's terrified.

Honestly, I would cancel. The areas that are kicking off are where most of the tourists go.

To be clear, there haven't been riots! The protests are generally confined to a small area. You'll find tourists eating on terraces 2 streets over from the barricades...as I mentioned, nobody is getting accidentally caught in the fray.

As I said, I would exercise caution because things HAVE been escalating as a result of the ongoing police brutality, and because of planned action on the 26th. But at the moment most tourists (and most of my foreign colleagues) aren't really aware of what's going on...

My 61-year-old mother is coming to visit me next week, unless things escalate drastically. Admittedly, I live here and speak Catalan and Spanish, which makes things easier for us...

I posted a thread on this easier as well. We were due to fly Monday morning and I have cancelled.

Hotel was free cancellation so no money lost there and flights were booked a year ago so telepathically cheap.

I must admit the violence wasn't the only reason - the weather for the 2 full days were due to be there is not great (one looks horrendous) my dd are 8/12 so limited patience for museums.

The though of 3 of us being stuck in a hotel room is depressing! Decided I would rather lose flight money and come next year when we can make the most of it.

God so wrapped up in brexit no idea stuff was going on in Barcelona... off to google. I’m normally pretty risk confident but if you’re going with small children I’d definitely think twice.

Some friends of mine have literally just got back today and said it was awful. I saw videos that they had posted and would agree. My parents have also just got back off a TUI cruise that was supposed to dock in Barcelona. It didn't....they went to Ibiza instead.

Any chance you can transfer hotels to one outside the main area, or change the flight too?

I’d be cancelling as a mark of protest against the Spanish government and police.
Shocking.
No wonder people are rioting.

We are staying a little bit out of the very centre, near the zoo. Dh thinks I'm being daft and it will all be fine...

Oh and no chance of changing accommodation or flight booking, it's all prepaid with no cancellation options. To be honest I don't mind losing the money if I think I'm keeping my kids safe but I'll be kicking myself if we cancel and it has all stopped by next weekend!

It would break my heart to cancel as I love the place so much but I'm afraid if I were you right now I would avoid it.

If it's all prepaid and you will lose money anyway can you just not leave it until last minute?

FruitbatDancer do you never watch the news? There has been extensive coverage of protests in Barcelona for several days!

Obviously these situations are fast changing but my friends flew out on Friday specifically to attend the rally with their teenager, they are Catalan (and do not consider themselves Spanish) from Facebook they said just a few anarchists and they had left by then, just as happens here and elsewhere.

We are flying out on Saturday morning. Looks like it may be an interesting trip. Just the two of us.