Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/07/09/anti-tourist-activists-in-barcelona-squirt-water-guns-at-visitors-to-solve-citys-self-imposed-problems.html
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Interesting perspective, considering that no one was drowned to death or burned alive.
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[citation needed]
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…which also generates billions every year in tourism and global merchandising…
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Pretty sure this is some of what the OP was referring to.
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What has any of that got to do with the city?
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This BB post seems rather disparaging and frankly insulting to citizens of Barcelona.
How do you know they are “oblivious”? Perhaps they are not “refreshed” by overtourism?
And this somehow invalidates their position?
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Shooting water pistols at tourists in the middle of summer sounds more considerate than vengeful.
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I can understand that - cruise ships are infamous for disgorging tons of visitors who then don’t spend any money, providing the worst aspects of tourism without the benefits.
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When I visited Barcelona as a tourist, I saw a sign painted on a roof reading “If it’s tourist season, is it OK to shoot them?”
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This is on the vengeful side.
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Barcelona lacks affordable housing, as much of the existing housing stock has been converted to short term rentals to cater to the tourists. This benefits landlords and those who work in tourism. Everybody else suffers. Some of this remainder would like the tourists to leave them in peace,
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Yes, I understand the motive of the protestors. I was criticizing the condescending tone of the BB post.
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My wife visited Barcelona 30 years ago when it was relatively civilised. She’s keen to go back with me, and explore the marvels of Gaudi and so on, but I really don’t want to go somewhere I’ll be treated as a pariah for not having been born there.
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You might get a friendlier response if you spoke Catalan.
Welcome to BB.
I heard the mayor of Barcelona on the radio the other week, discussing Air BnB, he was making the point that there are many other fabulous cities and Barcelona is just one (with excellent travel facilities).
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Why should they? Is that something we expect as tourists now?
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Waiting for @anon84099695 to put down his water gun and show up here as the only one who can speak with any authority on the subject
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The curiosity should go the other way, what is the point of tourism otherwise?
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Sorry, been >6 weeks that i cannot sleep because tourons keep having fights at 3AM, or loudly announcing their drunken return to home at 5AM. Let me quickly check the thread.
reads the thread
First of all, as far as I know, Barcelona Football Club is not the manager of the city, the OP can go and eat carrots. Our urban planning has been praised by cities worldwide, our zoning laws work just fine (except for rich people), our “reckless spending” shoot through the roof mainly because COVID, which basically reduced tourism to zero.
Barcelona has been relentlessly invaded by tourists, and it’s not like we’re gentryfied (or whatever is spelt), is that we’re disneyland-fied. Theaters and cinemas converted to big brand stores to attrack big spenders. Small stores converted to fast food chains. Going to work to the office -near plaza cataluña- is a gimkana of tourons trying to make photos and morons trying to exploit them.
In 2023 we had 26M tourists. Paris, which used to be the most visited city of europe, had 15M. Paris’ area is 1000sq miles, barcelona is 39sq miles. The tourism density is so that we basically cannot do normal life in summer anymore.
As for housing crisis, we have the same problem that many other big cities: stagnation due to rich people buying properties and inheritance laws not being onerous enough to free those properties to the next generation, now compounded with the entrance of “vulture funds”: investors that are buying all real state to artificially inflate and keep prices high.
Real state developers don’t want to make affordable housing, because is “more profitable” to build luxury apartments, and speculators buy them to… speculate with them. I’m pretty sure this happens in most big cities but the other classic example cited is London.
Our mayors have tried to stem the tide a bit, but is difficult because there are a lot of interests (interests that fund campaigns, nudge nudge, hint hint) in not doing so. But for example, they made laws so real state needs to develop a percentage of affordable housing, and sometimes they allow to permute (ie: I build this luxury condo here, and instead of putting 30% of the floors as affordable, I build an affordable condo there) but other times is on premises.
I’m sorry for ciaomoshimoshi but they chose the worst time to visit the city. Is summer (which means we are already up to our necks in tourists), there’s a lot of tension about the Copa America (an event by rich people, for rich people, that is paid with my taxes and personally brings me no happiness or benefits), and all the events that have been doign around the copa america (an F1 show in a city that is trying to curb emissions? Neighbors forbidden to enter their park because Louis Vutton wants to hold a fashion show there?).
this is something I was discussing with an american coworker the other day, because I made a similar comment. The takeaway from the conversation is that we take “gun threats” lightly because in spain is considered hyperbolic. Is funny when you know the chances of getting shot in spain are almost nil. Is not so funny in US because the possibility of getting shot is real.
I think thats something that happens everywhere, but sports fans tend to attract some of the most racists elements in our society. Fuck hooligans.
As I said in the tourons thread: you’re welcome to visit our city, but be mindful of the cost. And avoid high season
Edited to add a lot because I accidentaly sent the post instead of hitting return.
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Also will add that anyone looking for sources to some of my statements I have been informing about how my city is going down the gutter and why people is angry in the tourons thread:
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