Anti-tourism protests in Europe (Barcelona, etc)

[Frau Muller]

Saw this article on Yahoo. Has anybody experienced this? Tourists in Barcelona being protested, shot with water guns, etc.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/08/travel/barcelona-tourism-protests-scli-intl/index.html

I sometimes wish that this would happen in San Juan - especially with cruisers - but many businesses depend on tourism. I personally dislike running into packs of tourists - especially loud drunken ones - in the narrow streets of Old San Juan. Most groups are calm.

 

[Winnipeg]

That is really nasty. I wonder where Barcelonians go for their vacations and hope they get the same treatment when they are the tourists.

 

[Judy]

My awesome neighbour has his father-in-law visting from Spain. His daughter is from Spain and is just as lovely. Her dad is 88 and I met him with my neighbour translating. Such a sweet and funny man .

 

[Judy]

I’ve only visited Barcelona once (we were boarding a cruise ship to do an European tour for 12 days). It was def an exhausting trip .. beautiful but exhausting. I think I’d prefer to travel to one destination though not on a cruise ship but we got such an amazing deal. I have no idea too about the issues with the above situation.

We spent a day and a half in Spain but overall we found people really friendly. Much friendlier then France lol although I expected that.

 

[overedge]

From what I've seen, the protests are against mass tourism, like when a cruise ship visits and suddenly hundreds, maybe thousands, of visitors arrive at once. And almost all of them want to see the same places and do the same things, in a short amount of time. That has a huge negative impact on daily life for the people that live there.

Don't @ me about helping the local economy etc. This is about quality of life for the people who support the local economy by working, living, and spending money there every day of the year.

 

[Jenny]

I agree with the protests - imagine one of these pulling up to your city and as @overedge says bringing as many as 7000+ passengers who pile into tour busses to see the same handful of sites.

As the article notes, the city (and others in the same predicament) are taking steps to deal with it, including limiting the number of cruise ship passengers, tourist taxes etc.

The other issue as I understand it is the Air BnB effect - huge numbers of apartments and other housing bought by investors and turned into rentals, thus making housing for actual residents harder to find and/or afford.

And look at it this way, getting sprayed by a water pistol on a hot summer day isn't all that bad. If you were in Thailand during spring new year celebrations, it would be water cannons and bucketfuls

 

[skateboy]

I visited Barcelona once, 11 years ago, and had a wonderful time. I'm sorry to hear about this attack on tourists. I would assume that the city makes a great deal of money from tourism.

I will also hasten to say that, as beautiful as Barcelona is, it has a HUGE pickpocketing problem, and the culprits are experts at it. Knowing this in advance, I wore boots when I went out in public and put my cash/credit cards inside my sock. Even so, there was one time where I put a photocopy of my passport in my front pants pocket. It was stolen without my realizing it, that's how skilled these pickpockets are. Fortunately there were no repercussions from it, but the fact that it happened at all was unnerving.

 

[Cachoo]

Give me any other season in Europe than summer. If I want to see that many Americans I can stay here. The attacks are rude but I understand the frustration.

 

[Private Citizen]

I understand the protests, but think they should be directed at government rather than tourists.

And we've had multiple conversations about Airbnbs on other threads, but Airbnb is heavily regulated in Barcelona with a ban going into effect by 2029. There are 10,000 Airbnb and similar units representing 1.2% of the housing stock in Barcelona, so it's certainly not the main reason for prices going up. When Airbnb was banned in New York, hotel prices skyrocketed and housing became no more affordable (and actually went up, but most of that was Bidenflation). I suspect Barcelona will experience the same fate, or possibly worse since it also has had a ban on new construction of hotels. I'm not also sure how many full-time residents are going to want to live in these holiday rental areas, e.g., a block off of Las Ramblas, which is fun for a holiday but not for full-time living with noise all the time, etc.

I support cities' rights to ban or limit cruise ships, as well as introduce tourist taxes and regulate Airbnb and similar. (I do not support outright bans, and I believe they contravene EU law and will be subject to court challenges.)

I also think there needs to be more of a concerted effort to promote off-season tourism and "go here instead" tourism to less visited spaces that can accommodate tourism and want it. Especially (large) cruise ships.

 

[Debbie S]

If Barcelona residents aren't happy with the effects of tourism, then they should lobby for policy changes (implementing some of the policies the article mentioned) with those responsible for making policy. Or organize a peaceful protest. Don't physically attack people.

I recently spent 4 days in Amsterdam. As a single woman traveling alone, if I were sitting at a restaurant or arriving/leaving a museum and I encountered a mob of people screaming at me and spraying me with water, I would fear for my immediate safety. I don't know about Spain but in the U.S., their behavior would get them arrested on several charges, some of them serious, like assault.

(On the subject of pickpocketing/safeguarding, I used this bag, worn across my chest. @skateboy do you think this would deter pickpocket attempts? I didn't have a problem in Amsterdam but it's not a city known for pickpocketing. Other Euro cities, like Rome, Milan, Madrid, that i want to visit are more of a problem.)

 

[barbk]

Humongous cruise ships are a real issue. Key West has tried to stop them, but Gov. DeSantis stomped on that. Guess who gets lots of campaign donations from Carnival and the others?

 

[Jenny]

If you watch the footage in the article posted above, it looks like the vast majority of protesters are walking peacefully - and unarmed - and using the opportunity to speak with media to get their messages out. In the video and pictures, I only see one small group of women with water pistols.

I wonder how prevalent the spraying actually was, or if it's yet another case of click baiting. The same video and essentially the same story has been picked up by news organizations everywhere, which may mean it really was rampant, or that those media outlets are just filling up their sites with whatever content they can get without actually doing any original research or reporting.

 

[skateboy]

(On the subject of pickpocketing/safeguarding, I used this bag, worn across my chest. @skateboy do you think this would deter pickpocket attempts? I didn't have a problem in Amsterdam but it's not a city known for pickpocketing. Other Euro cities, like Rome, Milan, Madrid, that i want to visit are more of a problem.)

I do think that bag, worn across your chest, would deter pickpockets. But I would avoid anything that hangs over the shoulder. Pickpockets in Barcelona are notorious for quickly cutting the straps (often unnoticed) and making a run for it.

I've visited Amsterdam many times and can't wait to go back. Heck, I'd live there if I could. People are nice, it's clean and very safe. I've found that most European cities are just fine, along with the usual precautions any traveler would take in foreign city. And Barcelona is beautiful, with friendly people as well. Just have to a little extra cautious. I don't believe it has a high rate of violent crime... just lots and lots of pickpockets.

 

[Andrey aka Pushkin]

Mostly peaceful protest (TM)

Anti-tourism protesters soak diners with water pistols in Barcelona

Tourists dining in Barcelona were drenched with water guns by angry crowds of anti-tourism protesters marching down the main boulevards.Carrying banners with...

www.youtube.com

I don't know how many tourists got attacked, but I'd say that even 1 is too many. Judging by the Palestinian flags, it's one again these left extremists who think everybody just owe them something, such as cheap accommodations in prime locations. Quite incredible.

Barcelona is one of my favorite cities, haven't been there since the last GPF because it is really too expensive for what it offers. The cruise ships claim is absolutely correct, but not for a city of 1.6 million inhabitants, and if it bothers them so much, why not ban the cruise ships - easy enough, Dubrovnik and Venice did it. I absolutely wish they succeed and get boycotted by tourists. Get back to 1991 when you were an industrial hole with crumbling infrastructure and polluting manufacture. Don't want tourists - give up the income, the soft power and the relations. AirBnB ban is in particular idiotic. Wouldn't be surprised to find out these idiots are funded by the large hotel chains.

 

[Andrey aka Pushkin]

Or better yet. Since they fight tourism by fighting the places where tourists sleep, it will inevitably reduce the number of tourists who stay for several days, instead increasing the number of daily visitors who leave little to no money.

And then, if we check the statistics for housing pricing, either touristic or non-touristic places, the prices are raising literally everywhere. Wonder who they blame there? We had the same protests back in 2003 (well, not against tourists, but rather against foreigners buying property as summer houses) which somehow grew up from a group of students protesting they can't afford to buy apartments on the central boulevard in the city center
Quite a lot of noise happened following these protests, new political parties, new municipal laws, lots and lots of attention from the media... Does anyone want to know how the prices changed?

I think these protesters are up for a rude awakening. They still won't be able to afford the property in the city center, only (if the tourists really start boycotting Barcelona), they will crash their economy on the way.

I see it as just the left wing version of xenophobia. Don't see how blaming tourists for your hardship is better than blaming immigrants. Just an easy target, really.

 

[airgelaal]

I was in Barcelona in 2018 and I have wonderful memories.
But I can understand their dissatisfaction. I myself am from a tourist town, and EVERYTHING and ALWAYS was more expensive here in the summer. There is even a joke that local residents don't go to the beach in the summer, because the beaches are always crowded with tourists, and the locals go to other countries to rest. To Barcelona, for example

 

[overedge]

The cruise ship port here is a short walk from where I work. On days when cruise ships are in port (sometimes more than one) the area is full of tourists, and it seems that they have all been given the same recommendations for what to see and where to eat. It's great for those businesses, but possibly because the tourists have to be back on the ship at a certain time, the tourists don't have time to see or do much else.

There's a food court that I go to quite regularly, which is literally across the street and a few blocks from the cruise ship terminal. It has great food at reasonable prices, and almost all the vendors are small local businesses, but it's not on "the list". Last summer I had some very good conversations with cruise ship passengers who had wandered in there by mistake, but were really impressed by the food and the friendly service.

I know that some passengers are bucket-list types who aren't going to be happy unless they get to see and do specific things. And some passengers are just going to walk around and do whatever they feel like doing. But if the cruise ships are going to bring that many people into town at once, they could at least try to spread the spending around, and not just recommend the same three or four places that every other tourist guide says to visit.

 

[Judy]

I do think that bag, worn across your chest, would deter pickpockets. But I would avoid anything that hangs over the shoulder. Pickpockets in Barcelona are notorious for quickly cutting the straps (often unnoticed) and making a run for it.

I've visited Amsterdam many times and can't wait to go back. Heck, I'd live there if I could. People are nice, it's clean and very safe. I've found that most European cities are just fine, along with the usual precautions any traveler would take in foreign city. And Barcelona is beautiful, with friendly people as well. Just have to a little extra cautious. I don't believe it has a high rate of violent crime... just lots and lots of pickpockets.

It’s not just Spain though .. lots of skilled pickpockets in Europe generally. My friend almost had her wallet stolen walking across the street and it failed but she said she looked down and noticed it at her foot on the road. She dresses and looks like a model though. I think you kinda have to almost look poor lol.

 

[once_upon]

We were in Barcelona in May. It was a land tour and while it was fairly obvious we were tourists encountered zero issues. We've been there 3 times, 2 times smaller cruise ships. I can understand the "dumping" of several large cruise ships on resources.

I have this purse/travel bag since our first trip to Europe in 2014. It locks in several places. It works great.
Travelon Anti-Theft Classic Crossbody Bag, Black, One Size https://a.co/d/0f9VMCHO

 

[Winnipeg]

I get the issue cruise ships. Totally not a fan. It would be a bummer having to deal with them but the place to take your frustration and desire for change is to government as has been noted above.

 

[Nmsis]

Mass tourism is becoming a huge problem in many places.
People from Barcelona have been complaining for years and even the old tourists like some people from my own french family who have been going to Barcelona every summer since the 70s have been complaining about how the city has become one huge holiday resort and have stopped going there. It's even worse in the Balearics. Many places around the Mediterranean Sea are overtouristic.
The overcrowded touristic places need regulations and other sustainable tourism policies, especially for big cruise ships, probably low cost air companies too, airbnbs, opening hours, alcohol sales, etc...
If 10 people shooting water-pistols in a peaceful protest march make the international medias notice, well, that's one hell of an efficient media plan.

 

[kwanfan1818]

My old housemate had a friend who did not like what Seattle had turned into and was offered a job in Portland. The friend said, “But it’s like Seattle 20 years ago,” to which ex-housemate said, “But you liked Seattle 20 years ago.”

Just about everyone I know who was last in Barcelona in the mid-00’s and has visited recently bemoans what the city has become. I visited in those years, but mostly off-season: late November-early December, late February-early March. Even the one time we were there from around Christmas to a few days after New Year’s didn’t feel touristy in 2002. Definitely not cruise ship season.

I live in a city where tourists pour into every summer, and and I’ve I lived in Vancouver, BC, too. Many people fly into Seattle and spend a few days hear before and after clogging the buses and trains to Vancouver, if their cruises leave from there instead of here. We have hills, though, that keep most tourists without connections to the city in their natural habitats, so many people work on the east side of Lake Washington, and it’s a big car city because people are commuting out and transit is impossible for doing a lot of day-to-day things like shopping, that most areas in town just don’t feel it.

 

[Private Citizen]

It's even worse in the Balearics. Many places around the Mediterranean Sea are overtouristic.
The overcrowded touristic places need regulations and other sustainable tourism policies, especially for big cruise ships, probably low cost air companies too, airbnbs, opening hours, alcohol sales, etc...

All of this seems elitist to me. Let's declare that very nice parts of the world belong to a small group of people and only those people, who have the right to live there forever at whatever price they pay today. Then let's do all we can to keep the undesirables out by banning cruises, low-cost airlines, and anything else that the hoi polloi may use to reach that place. While jacking up the tourist taxes so that they can't afford to come.

People who live in very desirable areas should expect that others -- locals and tourists alike -- will also find those areas desirable. They don't have a god-given right to live there. Barcelona and other places should be building more homes outside of the tourist areas, and encouraging those frustrated by living in tourist areas to relocate to new neighborhoods, which should have fast transit links to workplaces, etc. That's a policy that may make life better for everyone, v. silly NIMBYism that isn't going to change anything for the better.

 

[skategal]

I work right in the middle of a cruise ship port with multiple huge ships in between May - October.

I’ve never found it to be an issue.

It is pretty funny some times seeing and hearing comments about why they can’t get back American change though or why Starbucks can’t change $100 American bills (it’s not a bank.)

 

[Jenny]

Agree with @Private Citizen on the dangers of elitism. Travel should be for anyone.

I think the issue is with volume - putting limits on large or frequent cruise ship stops for example, even the size of conventions, which so often can bring big revenues to a destination, but can also be detrimental.

I also think a lot of cities are grappling with the short term rental (ie AirBnB) trend for many reasons, not just tourism issues.

 

[Jenny]

It is pretty funny some times seeing and hearing comments about why they can’t get back American change though or why Starbucks can’t change $100 American bills (it’s not a bank.)

When I was young I worked in an urban mall, and this happened all the time. Some would even get angry with us.

There are more well-meaning mistakes in a similar category too - every July I get emails from colleagues in the US who work for the same Canadian-based company I do and know I'm located in Canada, but they still wish me a happy 4th of July, and Happy Thanksgiving in November. Maybe just spreading the love, but then again, I've never wished someone in another country a Happy Canada Day!

 

[Vagabond]

Agree with @Private Citizen on the dangers of elitism. Travel should be for anyone.

Cruises are out of the financial reach of most people who would like to visit Barcelona.

 

[Jenny]

Cruises are out of the financial reach of most people who would like to visit Barcelona.

I don't know as I've never taken a cruise, but I was under the impression that like hotels, there is a wide range of price points, from the bargain/on sale category right up to "price available upon request."

Even within a single hotel the pricing can vary drastically, so I'm assuming it's a similar situation with cruises too.

 

[Miezekatze]

I don't think there are cruises that are that cheap that poor people could ever afford them.

I also think it's a bit weird that people complain about those protests being elitist and entitled, when I read a lot of priviledged entitlement in regards to being able to be a tourist. ( I also assume the media reports are a bit over-sensationalized due to click-baiting, last year at Nebelhorn Trophy a girl on a bike shouted "f***** tourists!) at a group of people walking away from the Nebelhorn Trophy exhibition and taking up a lot of the street, I'm sure that could be sensationalized too

IMO the topic is not so clear cut as some make it sound here.
Back in the days before AirBNB, if you needed low-budget stays, you'd choose a hostel or low standard hotel/guesthouse (which meanings putting a lot of people in one big building, not taking up much space). Now people who got used to use AirBNB frequently want to be able to spend their vacation living in an appartment as big as a flat, but for budget prices. I mean even in a pricy hotel room, tourists will not take up that much living space.

I find it a bit funny that the people screaming the loudest about this are ones who are definitely not poor and very frequent travellers who seem to find their "right to leisure travel" very important as if that's the most important human right or something


Also LMAO about the idea of these protests being left-wing. Traditionally in Germany those "illegal holiday appartment" problems have been very common in rich rural areas were people are politically very conservative (like Oberstdorf region), which is why there's tons of regulations and restrictions happening, which are all introducted by the right-wing communal politicians. I think only AirBNBs have moved those problems more into big cities additionally, where it probably gets more international attention.

 

[allezfred]

All of this seems elitist to me. Let's declare that very nice parts of the world belong to a small group of people and only those people, who have the right to live there forever at whatever price they pay today. Then let's do all we can to keep the undesirables out by banning cruises, low-cost airlines, and anything else that the hoi polloi may use to reach that place. While jacking up the tourist taxes so that they can't afford to come.

People who live in very desirable areas should expect that others -- locals and tourists alike -- will also find those areas desirable. They don't have a god-given right to live there. Barcelona and other places should be building more homes outside of the tourist areas, and encouraging those frustrated by living in tourist areas to relocate to new neighborhoods, which should have fast transit links to workplaces, etc. That's a policy that may make life better for everyone, v. silly NIMBYism that isn't going to change anything for the better.

Being able to travel for leisure is a privilege, not a right. Those of us who are privileged to be able to do so have to be respectful of the places we are visiting. Mass tourism is ruining some places for both those who live there and our experience as travellers. If locals and local businesses are being priced out of cities, where exactly are the workers to cater to all these tourists going to come from?