With 170,000 visitors per day, tourism represents 13.5% of the GDP of the Catalan capital. On Sunday, several thousand people again protested against the organization of the America’s Cup.
The Sagrada Familia, the Ramblas, Park Güell… but also the crowds, the noise and the high price of accommodation: faced with an ever-increasing influx of visitors, Barcelona wants to review its tourism model, a source of tension among residents . With 170,000 visitors per day on average, according to the authorities, tourism represents 13.5% of the GDP of the Catalan capital, located in the northeast of Spain. But it is also the third source of concern for its 1.6 million inhabitants, according to the latest municipal barometer.
“In Barcelona (…) there is excessive economic dependence on the tourism sector,” estimates Daniel Pardo, member of the Assembly of Neighborhoods for Tourist Degrowth, for whom tourism has experienced growth after the Covid-19 pandemic. “excessively fast and aggressive.” Sign of discomfort, graffiti «Tourists go home» and demonstrations against overtourism have multiplied in recent months in Barcelona, faced with record attendance – like the whole of Spain, the second largest destination in the world behind France, with 85.1 million international visitors last year.
On Sunday, several thousand people again protested against the organization of the America’s Cup (a sailboat race). This summer, images showing certain demonstrators pointing water guns at tourists sparked strong condemnation from the authorities, who fear seeing tourismphobia evolve into violence.
”
data-script=”https://static.lefigaro.fr/widget-video/short-ttl/video/index.js”
>
“Uncontrolled” development
“We have had cases of tourists vomiting from one balcony to another, noise problems because they are having parties, smells of marijuana”lists Pamela Battigambe, who fears having to leave the city, where rents have increased by 68% in 10 years. “We are not against tourism. We are against this form of uncontrolled tourism, it is not viable.”
Wishing to calm things down, the mayor of Barcelona, the socialist Jaume Collboni, announced in June his intention to put an end to the rental of tourist apartments by the end of 2028. The measure could affect 10,000 homes. But the Apartur owners’ association, outraged at what it considers to be a “disguised expropriation”promised a series of remedies. She is demanding one billion euros in compensation if the measure is confirmed.
“Not the same life anymore”
Faced with this threat, the municipality says it is sticking to its position. “We have to look for different strategies” to fight against overtourism, insists Jordi Valls, deputy mayor, who considers it necessary to “develop other activities” to diversify the economy. But these efforts are considered by many to be insufficient, especially since the municipality is in favor of the controversial project to expand Barcelona airport.
Currently, “we do not treat overtourism from the angle of decline or slowdown in tourism”but trying “to better distribute it over time and territory”considers Anna Torres Delgado, professor at the Department of Geography at the University of Barcelona. Gold “we should start planning tourism development strategies by looking not only at economic indicators, but also at social and environmental indicators”.
Near the Sagrada Familia, the famous basilica which in 2023 received 4.7 million visitors, Jordi Gimeno’s haberdashery is one of the few historic shops in the area still open. The others closed because “restaurants or souvenir shops have replaced them”he describes. A few meters away, Jolijn, a tourist from the Netherlands, says she is understanding of the criticism from the people of Barcelona. «A Amsterdam, we have the same problem : people no longer have the same life as before, when tourism was not so massive”.
Related News :