Barcelona has been debating tourist saturation for a few years. The tourism-phobic voices driven by certain political parties encouraged demonstrations and street gestures of hostility towards tourists that went viral worldwide, such as violent attacks on tourist buses, graffiti rejecting visitors, or water pistol shots at foreigners.
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The municipal government has taken this sentiment into account and has made decisions to reduce tourism pressure. Three examples of this are: the significant increase in the tourist tax (let’s stop calling it a fee because it is not), the planned closure of 10,000 tourist apartments by 2028, and measures against cruise ships ranging from eliminating terminals to the latest announcement to ban stops or the threat to triple the surcharge for docking at the port.
The Catalan capital wants to be the best host but cannot stand the guests
The message is clear: the city cannot bear so much tourism. That is why what will happen in Barcelona next month will be a huge disappointment to anti-tourism advocates because the Catalan capital will be packed with visitors. There are hardly any rooms and tourist apartments available. The arrival of the Pope will be the starting gun for a hectic June. The Pontiff will bless the Jesus Tower of the Sagrada Família. That image will have a huge impact months and years later because everyone will want to travel to Barcelona to see Antoni Gaudí’s iconic work.
As if that were not enough, the cultural and musical offerings promoted by the City Council will attract tens of thousands of people to attend the Primavera Sound or Sónar festivals, which have already become global benchmarks. We must also not forget the international appointment with Formula 1 at the Barcelona-Catalunya circuit.
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The climax of the most touristic June will be set by the 33 trade fairs that will take place that month and the Sant Joan festivals, which are the most popular celebrations of the year. But July will be no less because it will start with another major global event in which the City Council has placed so many hopes that it has organized a major festival with more than 60 activities over five days. This is the start of the Tour de France from Barcelona, the most important cycling race in the world that attracts thousands of fans. All this, without forgetting that Barcelona is this year the World Capital of Architecture coinciding with the centenary of Gaudí’s death and the 150th anniversary of Ildefons Cerdà’s passing.
We are facing a contradiction between what is said and what is done. That is why we say that those who advocate reducing tourism pressure will be very disappointed because the facts go in the opposite direction to the speeches. The explanation is that no responsible politician can seriously consider harming tourism without first having an economic alternative to replace a sector that accounts for 13% of GDP and directly employs half a million people linked to 126,000 companies, according to Pimec data.
Economics professor Joan Tugores summarized it last week: “Tourism is the lung of our economy, and doing without it would mean reliving the crisis caused by the covid pandemic. At that time, even the most opposed begged for the return of tourists to recover their jobs.” So Barcelona has a broken heart because it cannot give up its economic lung. On one hand, it feels proud to be an adored city competing in the league of the best hosts in the world, and on the other hand, it cannot stand the guests. And heart and lung are inseparable.
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