Before the pandemic, the number of tourists coming to Barcelona had been going up steadily, and the tourism industry made up about 15% of the economy of Spain’s second-largest city.
People didn’t like the increase in tourism, and there were regular protests. In 2017, for example, vigilantes cut the tyres off of an open-top tourist bus and spray-painted its windshields. In a poll done that year by city hall, the people of Barcelona said that tourism was the city’s biggest problem.
“To bring the two worlds together, we need to change the model. We can’t have a city for tourists on one side and a city for people who live there on the other” Francesc Munoz, who is in charge of an Observatory at Barcelona’s Autonomous University that looks into urbanisation.
Since tourists are once again drinking sangria on the terraces, Barcelona’s left-leaning city hall said recently that it plans to take new steps to control the area. Access to the most popular squares could be limited, and the flow of tourist buses could be more tightly controlled.
The city government of Barcelona has already taken action against illegal listings on websites like Airbnb and stopped tour groups from going to the historic La Boqueria market during busy shopping times.
“Tourism is important for Barcelona’s economy, society, and culture,” said Xavier Marce, who is in charge of tourism on the city council.
“We need to get the most out of the good and limit the bad. This is the debate going on in every city in Europe, “he added.
“Find a balance,” they say.
Marcio didn’t agree with the idea that the city didn’t change its tourism model when the number of visitors dropped for two years because of the pandemic. “No time has been wasted. When there is no tourism, it is hard to solve the problems that come with it” he said.
“I’ve been a tour guide for 15 years, and it’s getting harder and harder to show tourists around,” he said, referring to rules that limit tour groups to 15 people in some places.
“We have to find a balance,” he said on a sunny esplanade in the Gothic quarter before taking a tour group back to their cruise ship in Barcelona’s port.
Cuso, who fought against mass tourism, agreed with him.
“We don’t want there to be no tourists. Tourism will always be around, but we need a city where tourism and other types of economic activity can coexist” he said.
