Anyone else going to Barcelona soon...concerned about protests?

[malificent7]

Im a bit worried about these protests as it will be uncomfortable feeling unwelcome.

I was there in 2014 and there were stickers in the Park Guell area on walls saying we don't want tourists. So I'd imagine it's worse now.

That aside watch it in Barcelona. Petty theft is high and it is really very grotty. Don't keep your mobile on your handbag because if that gets stolen you've lost your phone too. Keep your phone in a pocket.

I can't understand why it's so popular as it's actually a bit shit anyway. Las Ramblas that everyone raves about looked like a cheap nasty market.

I spent a lot of time in Barcelona in my youth...loved it...very vibrant and fun. I likes las Ramblas and never got pick pocketed.

I’m not going soon but have been several times. Never seen any issues before and I’m not sure why some locals feel tourists are a problem. It looked like the restaurants targeted were near Las Ramblas, so perhaps consider restaurants in the side streets. I should think the police and Spanish tourist board will be trying to prevent any further issues so hopefully you should be able to enjoy the city. I’ve always liked Barcelona so I’m sad to what’s happening.

So then why are you asking?

It's a city of 3 million people, and 10 of them got photographed doing a stunt. The tabloids are going nuts about it because "I left the UK and something bad happened to me" is always guaranteed to bring in billions of clicks. The media will always gives you a distorted picture of things like this.

That said, there are real problems in many cities because of overtourism, so while the possibility of seeing actual conflict is statistically vanishingly small, perhaps there is a lesson here. We "pop over to Barcelona" because it's there for us to drop in, enjoy the sun, tapas, a glass of cava, fly back out, and then someone else does the same the next weekend in our Airbnb (legal or illegal), and that's a local family who has to live out of town because we've priced them out.

Just got back last night from a long weekend in Barcelona. It was absolutely fine, no sign of any protests or anti-tourist sentiment. We were at a concert and I asked the guy next to me about it (we’d been chatting- I didn’t randomly ask a stranger if they hate tourists!) and he had no idea what I was talking about, said it sounded like propaganda. I suspect there’s isolated incidents but it’s a big city.

just like Venice and Palma and all those other coastal cities in the Med, Barcelona has really suffered from over tourism caused by cruise ships. When I lived there the tourists attracted all sorts of shady street vendors and pick pockets and it really annoyed the locals.

Stay away from Las Ramblad and stick to Barcleonetta or the lovely neighbourhoods is eixample and you’ll be fine. The neighbourhoods at the northern side of the city, near Parc Guell are lovely.

Locals are fed up with AirBnBs - all the central flats are being bought up by investors, pushing up prices so locals have to live further out in the barrios. The main tourist spots are safe as long as you’re sensible as in any big city - hold onto your cross body bag, keep large banknotes hidden in bra/socks. Parc Guell is lovely.