Inspiration to Handle Overtourism (from Barcelona)
Barcelona is a beautiful city, but suffers dreadfully these days from overtourism. Like many English areas (the Lake District, Bath and Stratford-upon-Avon – due to the Shakespeare connection), this is when masses of people arrive at the same time, take selfies then disappear.
Often leaving rubbish, not supporting local economies (all big coach trips and big hotels) and leaving locals without being able to call their place home.
The Cotswolds village of Bourton-on-the-Water has residents concerned over ‘TikTok visitors’ who descend to take selfies with beautiful backdrops. But leave litter behind, having no appreciation of local nature and heritage.
The same is happening abroad. Many popular tourist cities (Venice, Rome, Paris) are all taking action, fed up of tourists descending on their homes to buy junk. Then taking tours operated by outside companies, so not even supporting local jobs.
Barcelona (a beautiful coastal city in Spain) was okay until it hosted the Olympics. Then when people realised what a lovely place it was (with a traffic-free main street and stunning cathedral), it all went a big wrong.
At first, tourists were good. But while in 1990, fewer than 2 million people visited, by 2017 it was almost 9 million. And as a popular stop-off place for cruise ships, tens of thousands of people will descend onto the streets to buy tat, then return to ship.
It is doing nothing to help Barcelona’s small businesses, and makes it noisy and crowded to live in .
So now there are some cruise ship bans, and limits on airbnb properties (to discourage empty holiday homes, and make homes more affordable for local people that live there).
Tourist tax is to double in 2029, and even pub crawls are banned!
Spaniards like a drink like anywhere else, but now they enjoy their sangria and siesta in peace, without tourists from abroad disturbing them with late-night binge-drinking and public disorder.
Most Spaniards are not cruel to animals. It’s tourism income from the UK and North America that supports the bullfighting industry. Bullfights are banned in Barcelona, so at least that’s one thing they don’t have to get upset about in their city anymore.
Your holidays, my misery, their greed brings us ruin (from a banner held up by locals protesting overtourism in Barcelona)
