City report
A tale of two cities
THEO REILLY ASKS WHETHER BUSINESS TRAVELLERS IN BARCELONA ARE IN DANGER OF BEING CAUGHT IN THE CROSSHAIRS OF ANTI-TOURISM ?
A s a tourist , you become economically significant but existentially loathsome .” So said David Foster Wallace , American writer of the late 90s and early 2000s .
Across Barcelona , locals have been gathering to share their growing frustration with mass tourism and rising costs . With signs reading ‘ Tourists go home ’ and ‘ This isn ’ t tourism – it ’ s an invasion ’, residents have brought the world ’ s attention to their crowded city .
The critique made by protesters is even more scathing than Foster Wallace ’ s . According to some locals , foreign revellers and sight-seers aren ’ t
Jaume Collboni
just ‘ existentially loathsome ’ – they ’ re also economically disruptive . Demand from 26 million visitors per year means
Left : Crowded streets are common in the Catalan capital apartments are rented out short-term at high prices , multinational chains are taking over local businesses , and locals are finding themselves in tourismrelated jobs with low pay – an average of just € 75 / day .
The protests have generated huge publicity . It remains to be seen , however , whether visitors will heed the protesters ’ warning . Data shows that tourism in Spain actually rose 9 % in June compared to the previous year , despite protests across Mallorca and Menorca as early as 1 June .
Good weather and cheap flights ( within Europe ) have long kept Spain at the top of the list of popular tourist destinations . Last year , foreign visitors brought € 12.6bn to Barcelona – a substantial contribution to the city ’ s revenue .
One type of traveller that offers highspending with none of the headache is the business delegate . Research shows that travellers on business spend between two and four times more than leisure tourists . Even better , the ‘ public nuisance ’ critique levelled at tourists doesn ’ t apply . A study of online complaints by the International Journal of Tourists concluded that the major offenders in tourism were ‘ culture disregarders ’ ( 20.9 %), ‘ disrupters ’ ( 19.7 %), ‘ photo clickers ’ ( 9.7 %) and ‘ litterers ’ ( 7.8 %). Business travellers are ‘ at work ’, representing themselves or their companies in a professional capacity . Selfie-taking and disruptive behaviour generally don ’ t fall within that remit .
Like Amsterdam , Barcelona is a city with a split personality . On one side , the city is turning into what mayor Jaume Collboni calls a ‘ theme park ’, with tourists swarming major sites , drinking cheap alcohol and passing out in an Airbnb before flying back home .
But Barcelona has another identity – the Catalan capital is home to a bustling business travel industry . Between 2013 and 2022 , Barcelona hosted more
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