BARCELONA — Tourists visiting a popular European destination have encountered signs that locals want to go elsewhere.
BARCELONA — Tourists visiting a popular European destination have encountered signs that locals want to go elsewhere.
Last week, about 3,000 protesters marched down La Rambla, the city’s tourist hub, spraying people with colourful water pistols, and videos of the demonstration went viral on social media.
Hello! You’re reading a premium article! Subscribe now to continue reading. Subscribe now Already a subscriber? Log in
Premium Benefits
35+ Premium Articles Every Day
Specially curated newsletters every day
Access 15+ print articles every day
Exclusive webinars with expert journalists
Select e-papers, archives, and articles from The Wall Street Journal and The Economist
Access to exclusive subscriber specials: infographics and podcasts
35+ Well-Researched Unlocks
Daily Premium Articles
Access to global insights
Over 100 exclusive articles
International Publications
Exclusive newsletter for 5+ subscribers
Specially curated by experts
Free access to e-paper and
WhatsApp updates
Last week, about 3,000 protesters marched down La Rambla, the city’s tourist hub, spraying people with colourful water pistols, and videos of the demonstration went viral on social media.
In the wake of these high-profile protests, travel agents and hoteliers say they haven’t seen any major cancellations so far, but travelers heading to Europe say they’re thinking more carefully about where to go, and visitors to Barcelona and other cities say the rise in protests and anti-tourist graffiti is hard to ignore.
“We love Barcelona, but if they’re going to limit tourism, that’s definitely something we’ll consider going forward,” said Val Gui, a 36-year-old business executive from Boston who visited Barcelona with her family last week.
Gui, who has an 8-month-old daughter, said he empathizes with locals, as he moved there as San Francisco became more expensive.
During their stay in Barcelona, they said they had received friendly treatment from restaurant staff and owners and were pleased that their family was making an effort to speak Spanish, but they also said they had come across a lot of graffiti criticising tourists like them, which made them feel unwelcome.
High-spending Americans are driving economies across southern Europe, with vacationers taking advantage of the strong dollar. For example, 33 million international tourists visited Spain in the first five months of this year, up 13.6 percent from last year, according to the Spanish statistics agency INE.
But some popular destinations are struggling with the tourist influx, with tens of thousands of Spaniards taking to the streets in Malaga and the Canary Islands to protest against rising housing costs as mass tourism increases and properties are increasingly being converted into short-term rentals.
Tourists’ opinions
A few months ago, Madison Smith, 25, booked a month-long Airbnb stay in Barcelona, planning to work remotely this fall. But after seeing videos on social media of locals spraying water at diners, she began to regret her decision.
Smith, who works in digital marketing in Boston and booked an Airbnb because it was cheaper than a hotel, asked on Reddit whether she should cancel her trip and received mixed responses.
“I felt a bit guilty and anxious and wasn’t sure if I should really go, so I changed my travel plans,” she says.
She is currently in Madrid with plans for a short visit to Barcelona.
Travel advisors like Virgi Schifino Kennedy of Pennsylvania-based Luxe Voyages say some travelers have reached out to her for their opinion on the situation, urging them to travel there because every destination is more complicated than one storyline about the protests.
Ane Cvetkova, 42, commutes regularly from her home in Skopje, North Macedonia, to her favourite city of Barcelona, but is now staying in hostels after the rising costs of short-term rentals.
She sympathizes with her local friends, but believes measures such as regulating day cruises, addressing illegal Airbnb rentals, and curbing landlords from raising rents are necessary. “I’ve never personally felt unwelcome or encountered any hostility from locals,” she says.
Regional influences
On the leafy La Rambla avenue, many business owners declined to comment on the protests or their economic impact, fearing they would be targeted by demonstrators.
Susanna Corominas, a shop assistant at Torrons Vicens, a store selling chocolates and traditional Spanish sweets, condemned the protesters for throwing water on tourists but said outside customers visiting her shop did not raise the issue.
“I don’t see the protests having any effect on local businesses,” she said. “Tourists themselves complain that the area is too crowded.”
Ariadna Coten, one of the protest organisers, said the independent shops frequented by Gràcia neighbourhood residents were being replaced by businesses catering to foreign tourists, including speciality coffee shops and upscale restaurant chains.
Park Güell, one of Barcelona’s largest green spaces, is so popular that non-residents must buy tickets to enter, and even those who live near the park must reserve a spot through an app to help ease congestion.
Cotten said the group has no plans to demonstrate in Barcelona in August, instead planning to resume demonstrations in September to coincide with the city’s America’s Cup sailing tournament, which runs until late October.
Barcelona authorities agree that tourist numbers should not continue to grow, said Mateu Hernandez, executive director of the Barcelona Tourist Board, a coalition of government agencies and business leaders aimed at promoting tourism.
The city’s challenge, he said, is to steer tourists to less crowded tourist spots and to increase the proportion of visitors who want to enjoy arts and culture rather than those who just want to party.
“Barcelona now joins the ranks of cities like Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Oslo, Sydney, Seattle, Austin and Boston that have problems that come with their success,” he says.
Short-term rentals
Much of the anger in cities such as Barcelona and Malaga comes from local residents who say the rise in tourist housing is leading to soaring rents.
Barcelona Mayor Jaume Corboni announced last month that more than 10,000 existing licenses for short-term rentals would not be renewed and new licenses would be halted. Corboni hopes that by eliminating a major source of income for landlords, more long-term rentals will become available for residents. Tourist rentals are due to be phased out by late 2028.
Airbnb said the root causes of Spain’s overtourism and housing problem were decades of hotel-led mass tourism and a shortage of new homes, adding that its platform only accounts for a small fraction of the country’s total housing stock.
While local governments have a responsibility to manage such issues, travel advisors are also thinking more deeply about their role in promoting particular destinations, said James Ferrara, president of InteleTravel, a network of 118,000 independent travel advisors.
“We need to stop sending people to the same 30 destinations around the world,” he says.
For more tips and insights from WSJ’s travel team, sign up for the WSJ Travel newsletter.
Write to Alison Pohle at allison.pohle@wsj.com.
Topics that might interest you Check out all the Business News, Market News, Latest News Events and Breaking News on Live Mint Download the Mint News App to get daily market news.
Source link