“The summer chaos has begun,” sighs a boss in Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter, his nose flat and his face tired. Here, the sun is stuck at its zenith, but the hearts of some locals remain stormy. They have lost their legendary hospitality, disgusted by the mass of tourists who come to disturb their peace.
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Every year, nearly 15 million travelers set down their suitcases in the city nicknamed “Barna”. That’s almost as many as in Madrid, for an area five times smaller. They crowd into the popular squares, jostle in the narrow streets of the historic center and besiege the cultural jewels. Barcelona is one of those cities that are victims of their success, that tourism has disfigured.
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On Saturday, July 6, 3,000 residents mobilized to demonstrate their fed-up attitude. “We need to regulate tourism,” explains Paulo, a resident of Las Ramblas, the local Champs-Élysées. The message is displayed on signs floating above the procession: “Fewer visitors, more residents” or “Tourists out of our neighborhoods”… Vacationers were also sprayed with water pistols, others surrounded, insulted. Images that went around the world. This is not the first time, and certainly not the last, that the most visited region of Spain has recorded such attacks.
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- ParisMatch
