Barcelona residents say tourism is a bigger problem than poverty as new mayor ramps up efforts to introduce a cap on visitors
- Barcelona conducted a poll asking residents to name city's problems
- Of those polled, 5.3 per cent said tourism is the biggest problem
- It edged poverty, which was identified by 5.1 per cent of respondents
Barcelona residents are so fed up with their city being overrun by holidaymakers that some believe tourists are worse than poverty.
Mass tourism has been a major complaint from locals and prompted the city’s mayor to propose a tourist cap, while some sights have gone as far as banning large groups.
In a poll conducted by Barcelona’s city hall, 5.3 per cent of respondents said tourism is the biggest problem facing the city. It ranked behind unemployment and working conditions (31.9 per cent) and traffic (5.5 per cent).
In a poll conducted by its city hall, 5.3 per cent of respondents said tourism is Barcelona's biggest problem
Tourism was followed by poverty, which 5.1 per cent of those polled identified as Barcelona’s biggest problem, The Local reported.
Tensions boiled over last summer as locals took to the streets and called for major changes to cut down on the number of holidaymakers who visit the city.
Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau has announced plans to cap the number of tourists entering the city to avoid ending up ‘like Venice’ as part of a strategy to balance the tourism sector’s interests with those of residents.
The leftist mayor has also halted the issuing of new licenses for tourist accommodation for one year.
Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau has announced plans to cap the number of tourists entering the city
In another move to appease locals, large tourist groups have been banned from visiting the iconic La Boqueria public market at peak times, including Fridays and Saturdays between hours when locals do their weekly shopping and it is visited by pairs or smaller groups of holidaymakers.
Tourism in Barcelona has been rising steadily over the last two decades, and the city of 1.6 million people is now visited by more than seven million holidaymakers a year.
The number of tourists visiting Barcelona has more than tripled since it hosted the Olympics in 1992, and locals are angry over queues and crowded beaches or streets, and worried the city will lose its identity as more tourist-focused shops or attractions open.
With tourism contributing to 14 per cent of its economy, a 2013 study by MasterCard found that Barcelona is Europe’s third most visited city, after London and Paris.
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