Barcelona has become one of the epicentres of anger and discontent towards tourists as locals have been increasingly protesting and campaigning against their presence
British tourists are being advised to visit Valencia over Barcelona to dodge the worst of anti-tourism protests sweeping Spain. Earlier this month, viral footage showed tourists in the Catalan capital getting drenched by protesters’ water sprays.
The incident follows escalating tensions as residents from various towns and cities clash with visitors and demand tighter controls on tourist numbers.
Barcelona has turned into a hotspot for such unrest, with locals taking to the streets in droves and authorities penning new laws to reduce the impact of holidaymakers.
Writing in the Telegraph, Nick Trend has put Valencia in the spotlight as a stellar alternative to Barcelona, touting it as a “far more attractive destination” that isn’t swamped by tourists like its famed counterpart. Trend remarked that “few of us want to spend our holidays in places where we are likely to be on the frontline”.
Valencia, a stone’s throw from Madrid, boasts a treasure trove of attractions including the Cathedral of Valladolid, the Plaza de San Pablo, and its very own International Film Festival.
As some travellers give Barcelona and other Spanish hotspots like Majorca a wide berth, their absence might just be the breather weary locals have been yearning for.
Earlier this year, disgruntled locals took to Reddit to vent their frustration over the impact of tourism on Barcelona, with one user lamenting: “Barcelona has become an amusement park made for tourists. Everything’s overpriced, when you go to class or work you have to avoid distracted tourists who randomly stop to take a picture all the time of the day, week or year.”
Another chimed in: “I was born and raised in Barcelona, but I no longer live there. I didn’t remember how bad it was until I went to visit my family last summer.”
They added: “Me and some friends went to walk around the centre and the girl that took our orders at Pans and Company (a Spanish bakery chain) didn’t even know Spanish or Catalan, only English.”
In response to years of grievances, Barcelona’s local government is cracking down. The city’s mayor Jaume Collboni recently declared that the city will revoke licences for 10,101 apartments.
Collboni outlined the plan in a statement, asserting that the reclaimed apartments would be used to alleviate the housing crisis and make homes more affordable for residents.
He stated: “We are confronting what we believe is Barcelona’s largest problem. Those 10,000 apartments will be used by the city’s residents or will go on the market for rent or sale.”
He firmly added: “No tourist flat in Barcelona. We will recover the current 10,101 homes. We improve the 30 percent rule to make the promotion of affordable housing in the city effective.”
