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Mass tourism protesters squirt water at Barcelona tourists
- lupusreal 2y agoKind of them to help the tourists cool down.
- 7e 2y agoThis is the utterly foreseeable consequence of the HN-funded Airbnb, which effectively lets rich tourists drive up the cost of living of city residents.
- mytailorisrich 2y agoThis does not justify attacking peaceful people who are minding their own business and having dinner. In fact, in my jurisdiction this would be common assault. Also, "rich tourists"... On the contrary. The number of tourists across Europe has exploded because very cheap flights and available and cheap accommodation means that, for instance, spending a couple of days in Barcelona has become extremely cheap and affordable to all, and all can be arranged from one's smartphone, indeed. When tourism was only for "rich people" there was no problem at all and Tom Ripley was very welcome everywhere ;) Example: Ryanair has flights from London to Perpignan (in France, across the border from Barcelona) in July starting at £35 one way... Barcelona seems more in demand so it's a whole £65...
- itsoktocry 2y ago>This does not justify attacking peaceful people Sure, but you could say this about every form of protest. >On the contrary. Poor people are not spending two days in Barcelona on a whim.
- theragra 2y agoThey certainly do, because tickets cost almost nothing, hostels are affordable. Richer people go to cruises or rent cars for a few weeks. Source: me and my friends when we were younger.
- throwawa14223 2y agoAll protest that involves people who wish not to be involved is fundamentally immoral.
- ceejayoz 2y ago> In fact, in my jurisdiction this would be common assault. In most jurisdictions, it'd be both a) assault and b) something the cops wouldn't give a shit about unless it damages a laptop or something.
- mytailorisrich 2y agoYou call the police reporting that you're being assaulted. They will show up. The assault will stop. Now, I agree they might just tell people off with no arrest but that really demands on mood, behaviour of people, location, and indeed damages to property.
- ceejayoz 2y agoI had something that looked somewhat explosive put in my mailbox. I live in a well off suburb. Cops took two hours to arrive. For a squirt gunning? They aren’t gonna do shit.
- mytailorisrich 2y agoWell, I am sorry that policing in your area is poor... But perhaps an actual crime in progress would elicit a different response. I have called the police twice in recent years, once for a road traffic accident in my street and once for road rage and they showed up in under 5 minutes (UK). It's not possible to generalise, but I suspect that a report of an assault in progress should get a quick response (maybe don't mention the water guns too much ;) )
- smdyc1 2y agoI'd shift the blame somewhat on the owners of the Airbnb properties and Airbnb itself rather than the tourists. They're the ones getting rich at the expense of the locals.
- Scoundreller 2y agoMeanwhile every Euro “destination” town/city will have residential units all over sitting mostly empty owned by some rich person/family. But that’s not as visible. And nothing new.
- itsoktocry 2y agoAnd it manifests itself as anti-immigration, too, as evidenced by elections in nearly every country. Mortgage financing and infrastructure, at least here in Canada, was designed to help get people into home ownership. Over the past 10 years that's turned into cheap, easy leverage to become a landlord.
- Scoundreller 2y ago> was designed to help get people into home ownership. I wouldn’t call it “designed to” if it was more accessible to those with large amounts of capital already at their disposal.
- autokad 2y agoI remember residents there and other places of Europe were upset about tourists far before airbnb was a major thing, like this article not limited to 2017 (although airbnb is mentioned, this goes back a long time): https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/europe/europeans-angry-at-having-to-share-their-cities-with-millions-of-tourists-1.620338 https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/europe/europeans-angry...
- luzojeda 2y agoI find weird why this is being downvoted comparing to some Airbnb related comments on a same situation 3 years ago but in Amsterdam: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28903530 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28903530
- hindsightbias 2y agoPeople are less and less considering themselves as part of the problem.
- luzojeda 2y agoan increasing rules for thee but not for me
- Kon-Peki 2y agoIt could be worse. I was once at the Berlin Zoo and a group of tourists were harassing a tiger. So it turned around and squirted urine all over them.
- ljsprague 2y ago[flagged]
- more_corn 2y agoIt’s Barcelona in July. I would pay to get squirted. But also, Being mad at tourists seems weird to me. These are people who want to come and experience your city, learn about your culture, pay to eat food at your restaurants. Buy local art, have gelato with you. If your gripe is increased housing costs (which it almost always is) The problem is not tourists. The problem is short term rentals are more profitable than renting to locals (the fact is it pays 5x as much so property owners will do it if allowed). Go squirt the mayor and demand he accelerate banning short term rentals. Give him a second squirt and ask him to accelerate permitting new housing construction while he’s at it. Tourists bring money to your city. They pay your wages, they elevate the economy. Embrace them and make rules to prevent them from damaging the city they’re coming to experience. Don’t shout at them.
- taylodl 2y agoEither ban short-term rentals or heavily tax them, which serves to make them less profitable.
- petercooper 2y agoMaybe hotel chains could look into providing what modern tourists want and need. More spaces for families/groups and people happy to cook their own meals. These are the natural users of Airbnb-style properties, but I'd be happier going to a hotel if they offered a practical alternative.
- jerlam 2y agoLook into "extended stay hotels", which often have separate bedroom / living areas and full kitchens.
- petercooper 2y agoThey exist, but a common problem with them is they are for really extended stays, like people working in a city for a month or whatever. Often not possible for a few days as a tourist. But yeah, they can be really good if they work out.
- cynicalsecurity 2y agoThis is probably going to bring even more tourists. Which is great.
- hypeatei 2y agoIt's just some water, okay, but that seems wrong to disturb people minding their own business. Plus how do they know those are tourists and not native Spaniards?
- cpach 2y agoGood question, and people who know Barcelona better might chime in to correct me, but if it was a restaurant on La Rambla it’s probably a high chance that there where mostly tourists there.
- AftHurrahWinch 2y agoYou can see 2 seconds into the video that the people getting sprayed with water are eating at a Taco Bell. Geoguessing, I think it's this Taco Bell: https://maps.app.goo.gl/GqhrRobgQx6XUATo9 https://maps.app.goo.gl/GqhrRobgQx6XUATo9
- cpach 2y agoTo each their own, but IMHO it’s kind of sad that people make the trouble of going to another country and then end up dining at Taco Bell.
- AftHurrahWinch 2y agoAgreed, and it is a microcosm of the discussion in this thread (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40908142 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40908142) about who benefits from tourism spending. Perhaps if people were spending €8 at Abuela Rosa's Tortas instead of €6 at Taco Bell, a Yum! Brands experience brought to you by TriBrands Global the locals would be more welcoming.
- olyjohn 2y agoWhat if they don't have Taco Bell where they are from? Do you have to eat out at bespoke mom and pop restaurants for every single meal just because you're a tourist? Sometimes you might just want to grab something fast on the way because you don't want to spend your entire vacation sitting in restaurants.
- lemoncookiechip 2y agoThere's two sides to this story. Claiming that tourism is just a negative is just plainly wrong: [1] 2021: Barcelona started to recover, recording direct tourist spending of €3.7 billion with 4.5 million visitors. This marked a significant improvement as the city began reopening and international travel resumed. [2] 2023: Tourists in Barcelona spent €9.6 billion in 2023, up 14.7% from 2019 More than 12 million people visited the Catalan capital last year, 6.9% less than four years ago. Employment and Job Creation: The tourism sector significantly contributes to employment in Barcelona. In 2023, the sector employed around 100,000 people, with nearly 130,000 contracts signed. Notably, more than half of these contracts were permanent, underscoring the sector's role in providing stable jobs . [3] In fact, the entire tourism industry generates 12% of Catalonia's GDP and low-cost tourism is part of this. [1] https://www.barcelona.cat/infobarcelona/en/tema/city-council/consolidation-of-the-recovery-in-tourism_1140036.html https://www.barcelona.cat/infobarcelona/en/tema/city-council... [2] https://www.catalannews.com/business/item/tourists-in-barcelona-spent-96-billion-in-2023-up-147-from-2019 https://www.catalannews.com/business/item/tourists-in-barcel... [3] https://www.catalannews.com/life-style/item/tourism-boom-in-barcelona-strengthening-the-economy-or-troubling-local-residents https://www.catalannews.com/life-style/item/tourism-boom-in-...
- llamaimperative 2y agoThe subtext, which is absurd when made explicit, is that if not for tourism then those 100,000 people would not have jobs. In reality, jobs are created in response to demand, and you can obviously have arbitrarily large economies that are ~0% reliant on tourism and there's no reason to suspect Barcelona et al couldn't or wouldn't produce such an economy for itself in lieu of tourist demand.
- ryandrake 2y agoMoreover, whenever someone says "XYZ brings money to the area" you need to look at who in particular it's bringing money to. It's not like this money is being dropped out of a helicopter uniformly over the area's people. It's largely going to a relative few businesses and property owners, who spend a fraction of it in the local economy, who itself spends a fraction locally and so on.
- morkalork 2y agoWhy is mass tourism such a problem today and not the 90s/2000s. Is it really all thanks to platforms like Airbnb allowing cities to host so many more tourists that is the problem?
- mytailorisrich 2y agoCost and availability of flights has changed a lot. With companies like Ryanair (other budget airlines available) you can fly to anywhere in Europe for nothing by booking straight from your smartphone in 5 minutes.
- ianburrell 2y agoLower costs and higher incomes mean more people can afford to travel. Which means people and countries that didn’t travel before. There is also style of travel of going to most popular places and taking photos for social media that overloads popular spots.
- chung8123 2y agoThere are a lot more people and the same amount of places to go.
- Scoundreller 2y agoPoor people can do it now.
- matwood 2y agoRelative to costs of flights and accommodations, people just have a lot more money.
- cpach 2y agoYeah, we tend to overlook this. I grew up in the 80s/90s and the global standard of living has increased dramatically since then.
- allemagne 2y agoIt's because the supply of housing for tourists and residents alike has not kept up with demand. Maybe in someone's ideal world we can put everyone in a city into the categories of "outsiders" and "residents" and enforce a strict regime where "outsiders" are strictly prohibited from occupying housing that rightfully should go to "residents", but we don't live in a world where that's possible. If Airbnb didn't exist someone else would have come up with it. If somehow the idea was preemptively disallowed, then the complaint would be that there are too many hostels operating under-the-table. Without building more housing, there is nothing you can fundamentally do about tourism except make Barcelona a worse place, in comparison to everywhere else, for everyone.
- barryrandall 2y agoThis will surely result in change to the government policies that make Spain an attractive tourist destination.
- hi_dang_ 2y ago[flagged]
- joezydeco 2y agoHow do the locals feel about things like the Mobile World Congress gathering? Are they tourists? Or businessmen?
- bilsbie 2y agoWe really just need more places. We basically have the same number of tourist destinations as when the population was 1/3 the size. No one is making more places to visit.
- throw_pm23 2y agoThey do, just no-one wants to visit them.
- kingsloi 2y agoI agree - either lower people's standards or try push a "beauty is in eye of the beholder" mindset For example Gary, Indiana. You only hear the bad things, but never that it has great beaches and trails, if you're willing to settle for a bit less on everything else. Here's a video I took a few months ago https://imgur.com/PItmK2v https://imgur.com/PItmK2v, I don't think people necessarily picture these sort of views from the armpit of Indiana but it's a daily reality here.
- francisofascii 2y agoI somewhat agree. The truth is there are a ton of towns in the US that you never heard of that do surprisingly well with tourism. You can tell by all the hotels near the town. All you need is a few few restaurants, bars, coffee shop, a cute little market street, a historical attraction, and maybe a hiker/biker trail.
- mandibeet 2y agoLeading to overcrowding and increased competition for the same locations
- francisofascii 2y agoA water squirt is preferable to getting your rental car window smashed and your luggage stolen, like in SF.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- decafninja 2y agoHappens quite frequently in Europe too. While outright violent crime might be rarer in Europe, nonviolent crime, at least specifically targeting tourists (theft, pickpocketing, scams, fraud) seems higher than in the US.
- sorwin 2y agoSounds like these protestors should never go on vacation anywhere else either. Stay in your home city your entire life.
- gfxxxx 2y agoWhat makes you think these folks - ultimately protesting poverty - can afford to visit other places?
- viridian 2y agoIn my experience, most people who work in tourist destinations can't afford to travel for vacation. Do you think the average Costarricense or Resident of Cancun is taking yearly trips abroad on a wage of under $5/hour?
- sabbaticaldev 2y agolol that’s so random. Millions of people living in Rio de Janeiro can afford to travel around the country and internationally. Most of us will still prefer Rio, of course.
- allarm 2y agoWhen I was making about $5/h I was _able to afford_ trips in my home country and sometimes even _abroad_. Can you imagine that?
- frakkingcylons 2y agoI would never dream of doing that to tourists that came to New York. A jerk move by these protesters, but a brilliant move by the politicians that have somehow dodged this blame.
- Scoundreller 2y agoShould return the gold to the Americas first.
- trevor-e 2y agoI've visited Barcelona a couple times as a tourist and their anti-tourist feelings were always very odd to me, never experienced it elsewhere. Throughout the city is lots of graffiti in popular spots saying "Death to tourists" and such. Then there was a protest march at night where everyone wore masks, chanted through many streets that had outdoor dining, and physically made people put their phones away if they tried recording at all. Like I get being upset if you feel you are being priced out of your home city, but why place the hate/blame on the tourists? As a tourist I'm trying to enjoy the city and culture and earn money for the residents, not cause societal issues for the residents. If there is an accommodation available for me to book then I will book it because I assume I am welcome. Why not protest the politicians who are deciding the policies?
- addicted 2y agoMost likely reason is that the protestors are a minority. The “blame politicians” is a terrible approach. In a democracy politicians are elected by a majority of people. If people actually wanted to end tourism in large enough numbers, someone would elections on an anti-tourism platform.
- alecco 2y agoTourism is a drop in the water compared to mass immigration. Catalonia, and Barcelona metro in particular, had a flux of African immigrants who in turn have families with 6 to 10 kids. And insignificant new housing. But they choose to bother tourists because it's cool. https://www.epdata.es/evolucion-emigracion-inmigracion-comunidad/fa80c505-b563-4d3c-b5c7-a365d42b1045/cataluna/297 https://www.epdata.es/evolucion-emigracion-inmigracion-comun...
- eesmith 2y agoFrom your source: Cataluña, Población 7.710.136 personas, Emigrantes 61.597 personas, Inmigrantes 102.420 personas - https://www.epdata.es/datos/poblacion-inmigrantes-emigrantes-otros-datos-habitantes-cada-comunidad-autonoma/2/cataluna/297 https://www.epdata.es/datos/poblacion-inmigrantes-emigrantes... "The most-visited region of Spain was Catalonia, with 18 million foreign visitors. Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia." "The coastal city alone, with its many internationally famous sites such as La Sagrada Familia, received more than 12 million tourists last year." https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-09/why-are-people-protesting-against-tourists-in-barcelona/104073646 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-07-09/why-are-people-protes... 40K net immigration/year is much smaller than 18 million. Even if those 18 million are in Catalonia for only a day, that's still 49K people.
- alecco 2y agoTourists typically stay one week. Inmigrants stay forever and accumulate.
- eesmith 2y agoShow your work please. Tourism in Catalonia has increased a lot over the last couple of decades. "1,159,905 tourists/persons stayed at hotels in Catalonia in 2023 according the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE). This is 6.98% over 2022 figures 1,085,088, and 2.4% over 2019 figures 1,132,586 persons." says https://www.barcelonayellow.com/barcelona-faq/1197-how-many-tourists-visited-barcelona-in-2023 https://www.barcelonayellow.com/barcelona-faq/1197-how-many-... . Clearly 12 million tourists who visited Barcelona is far more than the 1 million who stayed at hotels in Catalonia, but we'll look at just the hotel numbers. 1,159,905 - 1,085,088 = 74,817 That means an increase by 75K tourists in the last year, compared to a net immigration of 40K. And that's only those at hotels. Even if the tourism population increases by only 1% each year that's still 120K additional people per year, which is 3x that of the net immigration change, and still larger than the total number of new immigrants. Where did the other tourists stay? Clearly AirB&B, which competes with local housing, but some also came by cruise ship, which does not. Also, I strongly suspect "Emigrantes" and "Inmigrantes" refers to people moving in and out of Catalonia, which would include people moving there from Madrid. Your source didn't give the number of immigrants specifically from Africa. However the numbers they do give show there is no way the number of African immigrants, including their Spanish born children, are enough to make the increasing number of tourists each year in Catalonia be "a drop in the water" by comparison.
- josefritzishere 2y agoThere is a video of a few tourists getting squirted with water. I feel like this is nothingburger. The social media circulation of the video has more of an affect than the protest.
- alexpc201 2y agoThe Catalans worked for 30 years to position Barcelona as a premium tourist destination, with advertisements even on buses in London, only to now intimidate tourists by splashing them with water and blaming them for all their problems.
- eesmith 2y agoCatalans are not uniform, and those with the money to promote tourism are likely those who benefit the most, an not those who face the strongest negative consequences of that tourism.
- djaouen 2y agoI love the one guy holding a sign with a plane with a cross through it. “No Planes!” WTF lol
- tjansen 2y agoThe thing that most of tourism protestors don't see is that tourists are what makes their city attractive. They want an attractive city without all the crowds, but that won't work since without the tourists all the money is gone. The bars and stores, and the museums and other attractions are mostly financed by tourists. Without the tourists, it will be just another city with empty storefronts because all the locals shop online.
- Fluorescence 2y agoI've lived in a number of hotspots. Locals rarely use the same businesses as tourists. Any "attraction" that is not the historic buildings / culture / scenery etc. are likely trash. Tourist infrastructure is dead space for a local, not an asset. Any claim that e.g. transport is an asset, is typically only solving a problem tourism has created. When people say they "bring money in", worth seeing where the money goes. Tourists spend in the most scammy cynical price gouging businesses and in multinationals. The profit margins of these businesses is not local wealth - the financial impact locals see is property price inflation. In most tourist cities, you don't need to walk far from the main attraction to see desperate poverty. There is opportunity cost. When a political administration leans into the "tourist industry" they are not growing other industry and enterprise that creates high value jobs for locals. The jobs tourism creates are entry level service workers that will likely served by immigrants also attracted by the same dynamics as tourists and more easily exploited by a loathsome industry.
- tjansen 2y agoI also live in a city, Duesseldorf, that's a semi-hotspot. Very crowded during trade fairs, Christmas markets and events like the Euro Cup; not so much in between. Visitors are definitely the reason why there are a thousand bars and stores still open. City centers of comparable cities nearby are dieing. The difference between a thriving city and a mostly dead city are 5.4 million overnight stays. (Admittedly, Barcelona seems to have about 20 million overnight stays plus cruise ships, but it also has almost three times the population of Duesseldorf)
- elforce002 2y agoIt seems the mayor of Barcelona is banning short-term rentals to appease the locals. From the looks of it, the discomfort started when locals couldn't afford to live in their city. Portugal also banned new Airbnbs. The same goes for other cities around the globe. Sooner or later, this trend will ramp up globally since the premise was to rent a spare room, not the whole thing. Tourism will survive since Barcelona has been a hot destination long before short-term rentals.