http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-05/barcelona-s-mayor-to-tourists-go-away
Lately there s been some talking in Spain about how to restrict or control in some way the flux of tourists that invade Barcelona.
The new mayor, who has a social activist background, wants to limit new hotel licensing and does not like AirBnB,
I am not from Barcelona and I dont particularly like the new mayor but I kind of support all these measures.
I ve been to Barcelona several times and it just gets worse every time I go. If I was a Barcelona habitant I would certainly be pissed off and I would feel like an outsider in my own city.
Las Ramblas has no charm left whatsoever. Drunk anglosaxons invade the whole city. La Boqueria is a shithole, completely ruined. The bottom line is that Barcelona is not an enjoyable city anymore. In the other hand, many bussinesses depend on tourism and this might cause some unemployment, but I think massification will have worse effects in the long term.
What does /trv/ think about massified tourism? What do you think about this kind of measures?
Barcelona is just an example but we could talk about Venice, Rome, Paris, Hong Kong...
Catalan here. I support it. We should extend the same kind of measures to all kinds of tourism. Generally speaking the mediterranean coast of Spain is an example on how you should not develop tourism. Barcelona is still ok but is going the wrong direction. I'm glad we are tackling this problem now.
>>1076371
What are the major complains from Barcelona residents?
>>1076372
you name it. Drunk chavs everywhere 7 days a week, real estate prices ever on the rise, all the bad side of gentrification, people walking around the city as if it was a caribbean resort, traditional shops closing, prostitutes everywhere tourists are, not being able to enjoy some parts of the city without the crowds, and I could go on and on
>>1076335
Anglo-Saxon here.
I was in Barcelona in November.
On the metro at night sitting across from a huge mob of Brits all with cans in their hands chanting, "We're cunts, and we know we are! We're cunts, and we know we are!" made me so proud of my people ;__;
>>1076420
I fucking hate people who wear this. It's so fucking disgusting. Few people in Spain wear this and i truly find it disgusting when tourist wear this on the street. I don't want to see your fucking armpits.
Also in Laos i saw signs discouraging people from wearing it but no one gave a fuck.
I just forgot to add the picture, i meant this, picture related
>>1076371
>>1076420
What exactly do you expect to happen though? I have a feeling that if they curb hotel numbers there will be more illegal hotels/hostels/home hosting businesses opening up. This is a seriously though issue facing a lot of places right now, there's more travelers out there now than at any time before and they mostly go to "safe" spots like Europe or North America, Japan, NZ/Aust, resort places. I bet you beautiful towns 30-50km from Barcelona have a ton of empty beds even in peak season. It was like that when I went to Mexico, as soon as I got off the typical tourist trail I found myself in hostels with 3 other travelers and 20+ empty beds.
Something needs to be done not to completely quell the flow of tourists but instead direct them to spread their wealth evenly to other parts of the country/region they visit.
Half the major European cities are facing this issue right now. I haven't been to Barcelona to see what it's like there but in Prague, the old town area is beyond fucked up. There's nothing resembling Czech culture or atmosphere there except for the architecture.
Europe is doomed to become a theme park for Asians, I'm afraid.
>>1076335
>Las Ramblas has no charm left whatsoever. Drunk anglosaxons invade the whole city.
Maybe get rid of the pushy aggressive drug dealers operating in open view first
There's not much to do or see in Barcelona though so I'll probably not be back
>>1076561
This.
Relevant picture
I live in Salem, MA. We don't get many tourists throughout the year, but jesus christ, Salem is pretty much semi-controlled chaos during October. Tourism here has caused all sorts of political trouble here, first it was legit wierdo witches coming here to practice their edgy "religion" during Halloween, now it's hordes of Australian, British, and Canadian tourists who, in typical anglo fashion, get drunk and go to the cemetery to cause trouble. Group of aussies destroyed a headstone that dates back to the original colony (mid 1600's). Caused a massive fucking outroar from the community and they only continue to get worse.
A small town of 40k in New England simply can't handle 1M people, ALL AT THE SAME TIME.
>>1076952
Similar to Pamplona during San Fermin, more than 1 million people in absolute chaos.
>>1076430
Holy shit I had no idea it was even frowned upon internationally. As a Canadian we wear these whenever it's above 15°C but this only happens once or twice a year...
>>1076335
>unemployed retards are planning to shut down even more jobs, more news at eleven
also,
>I am not from Barcelona and I dont particularly like the new mayor but I kind of support all these measures.
>I ve been to Barcelona several times and it just gets worse every time I go
>I am a tourist and I hate other tourists.
Thanks for you input, Real Traveler, now fuck off.
>Las Ramblas has no charm left whatsoever.
Las Ramblas hasnt had real charm in over 10 years. It's been an fabricated overpriced piece of tourist trap bullshit every time I've been over the past 12 years.
>>1076335
europoors need to quit whining and acting like tourists are invading their country and shit, it's just what happens when you live in a major city with global significance and it's been like that since civilization began. I live in NYC and i have to deal with tourists from every corner of the earth everyday but you don't see us Americans complaining half as much as these fags do.
>>1076561
They're going to have to share with the Africans and Muslims.
>>1077151
I imagine that the Spanish have a deeper culture and history than new Yorkers and that causes more resentment. That and the immigrants are probably new York's only hope of having decent people in the area.
>>1077151
yeah but Barcelona has a culture at stake
>>1078207
>20%+ unemployment for the past 5+ years in spain as a whole
>culture at stake
i don't know mate i think they're losing theirs like most countries, it's all part of the process of globalization, you can't stop it.
>>1077143
What this guy said.
What a fucking joke
>>1076335
Aren't Spaniards broke. How's less tourism going to help their economy?
>>1076952
CTfag here. That's the exact reason why I never want to go there. Sounds like an absolute shitshow of idiots hoping it was be some Hocus Pocus bullcrap.
