Spain’s most visited metropolis is searching for high quality over amount in 2025.
The writing was on the wall – actually. Final yr, graffiti appeared in Barcelona telling vacationers, “We spit in your beer. Cheers!” One other message learn: “Your luxurious journey – my every day distress”.
However in 2024 the Spanish metropolis’s pushback towards overtourism reached new heights.
With greater than 15 million vacationers visiting Barcelona yearly – drawn by its beautiful mix of artwork and structure, top-tier soccer workforce, and beachside location – locals are feeling the pressure.
It’s not the one place in Europe calling timeout on too many vacationers. Italy, for instance, can also be coping with the ‘plague’ of overtourism, and cruise ships are dealing with new restrictions at many ports.
Right here we evaluation a turbulent yr in tourism for Spain’s most visited metropolis -and stay up for what’s subsequent in 2025.
Barcelona decides to ban short-term leases
Again in June, Barcelona Metropolis Council introduced a radical plan to rid the town of vacationer flat licences by 2028.
Barcelona has not really granted new licences since 2014 when it froze provide at practically 10,000 items. However that hasn’t mounted the difficulty of unaffordable hire for locals.
“We need to assure the suitable to stay in Barcelona and deal successfully with the housing disaster we now have been struggling for years,” mentioned mayor Jaume Collboni.
The tourism trade hit again, naturally. The Barcelona Affiliation of Vacationer Residences (APARTUR) says these Airbnb-style flats solely make up a fraction of the town’s housing. It warns that proscribing licences may improve the variety of unlawful flats and probably trigger 40 per cent of the town’s tourism to vanish.
There are ongoing authorized challenges over the plan. The European Vacation Residence Affiliation filed a grievance with the European Fee (EC) in November, claiming it breaches the availability of providers directive – one thing the EC has questioned itself.
Protesters inform vacationers to go residence
The overtourism debate bought notably heated in July, when round 3,000 folks took to the streets, shouting “vacationers go residence” and spraying them with water.
Some 150 collectives, organisations and social actions had been concerned in the demonstration, which adopted comparable actions within the Canary Islands and Mallorca. Lodge and restaurant entrances had been additionally symbolically closed off.
“We wish the town’s financial mannequin to prioritise different a lot fairer economies. And for that, we think about that we now have to lower tourism,” defined Martí Cusó, spokesperson for the Affiliation of Neighbours of the Gothic Quarter and an activist towards vacationer overcrowding.
Additional protests towards excessive rents in November – although much less particularly focused at vacationers – additionally recognized overtourism as a driver.
Vacationer tax rises
In a bid to extend “high quality tourism”, the town council has been swiftly upping its vacationer tax: a levy that goes in the direction of cleansing, safety, metropolis infrastructure and different providers.
In October, it was elevated to a most of €4 per individual, relying on the kind of lodging. That is on prime of Catalonia’s regional tax – which fits as much as €3.50 for luxurious inns.
So, friends in five-star lodging can pay a complete of €7.50 per evening – €52.50 per individual for per week’s keep, up from the present €47.25.
Parking charges, cheesy retailers and disappearing buses
Barcelona has trialled many different strategies to minimise the heavy footprint of vacationers in 2024.
One slightly crafty measure noticed the town council take away an overcrowded bus route from Google Maps with the intention to release extra space for locals. The quantity 116 covers the Park Güell space of the town, however wasn’t designed for the overwhelming worldwide curiosity within the Gaudí-designed inexperienced area.
Extra not too long ago, politicians in Barcelona and Catalonia are contemplating doubling ticket costs to the park, as much as €20.
The town council has vacationer buses in its sights, too, which may typically block site visitors across the famend Gaudí-designed church, Sagrada Família. In September, it unveiled a plan to quadruple parking charges for the coaches, from round €20 to €80.
There are round 156,000 coaches driving round in Barcelona yearly, in keeping with council figures, averaging greater than 40 per day. The plan is to convey this all the way down to 70,000 in 2025, with fewer parking areas for buses within the metropolis centre.
It’s not simply lodging and transportation that’s bothering locals – they’re additionally sad in regards to the affect of vacationers on the streetscape. Councillor Albert Batlle said in August that any retailers that “contribute nothing” economically needs to be “eradicated from the district”.
He was describing cheesy memento retailers – the type promoting bottle openers, shot glasses and penis-shaped issues below the Barcelona model.
What’s in retailer for Barcelona tourism in 2025?
From the deluge of reports tales this yr, it would sound like Barcelona is a spot vacationers must keep away from – or at the very least put on a poncho to guard towards water-bottle-wielding locals whereas strolling down the road.
However the actuality is way more welcoming, Barcelona Tourism Consortium assures Euronews Journey.
“At Turisme de Barcelona, we imagine that social debate is important to progress and to search out options that profit each residents and guests,” a spokesperson says.
“We work always with all stakeholders to make sure that Barcelona stays an open, welcoming, and sustainable metropolis,” they add.
“The ambiance within the metropolis is certainly one of absolute normality, and we proceed to obtain messages of help and curiosity from guests everywhere in the world.”
Turisme de Barcelona says that vacationer satisfaction in Barcelona is excessive, with an index rating of 8.7, and guests persistently spotlight the pleasant nature of its residents.
As for locals, official figures present that 70.8 per cent imagine that tourism is helpful for the town.
The important thing, Barcelona Tourism suggests, is hanging a steadiness that protects residents’ high quality of life and the town’s sustainability. To that finish, there are some things that respectful vacationers ought to attempt to do:
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Go for cultural and native experiences
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Respect the principles of coexistence and public areas, and
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Select sustainable tourism choices, similar to public transport and accountable lodging.
2025 will little question convey new laws to redress the steadiness. Proper now, for instance, the town council is contemplating new methods to reclaim area across the Sagrada Família.
However Turisme de Barcelona says it’s attainable to attain a accountable and respectful tourism mannequin that advantages everybody.
