Protesters and residents go back to tourism in Barcelona

As the protesters passed through Central Barcelona on Sunday, they called to the tourists who filmed them to “come home!”

Explored couples sitting in the street cafes were ignited by water pistols and the luxury clothing store was glued to stickers announcing tourists who closed the unwanted ones.

Tourism is extremely important for Spain, and Barcelona is a top destination for visitors. But the crowds grow so fast that many locals complain that they are pulled out of their own cities.

Here and in popular places in southern Europe, residents are repelled back.

“We can’t live in this city. The rents are super high because of BNBS, as well as the expatriates that come and live here for the time,” Marina explained, holding her own banner as the crowd gathered.

He declares that “Your Airbnb was my home.”

Other signs require a ban on the giant cruise ships that make it here, announcing that the super -durism “kills” the city.

“Our goal is not to stop tourism, because it is also good, but to have it at normal speed,” Marina said.

The protesters’ route headed to one of the largest attractions of Barcelona, ​​the rising Sagrada Familia church, designed by the Catalan architect, Gaudi.

A combination of stunning architecture, sea and sun attracted more than 15 million visitors to the city last year, almost ten times larger than the local population. No wonder he feels the tension.

“We are not against individual tourists, but about how we manage this,” said Elena, a young marine biologist.

“Young people cannot afford to live here or even normal things like coffee that are really expensive for our salaries.”

Not only the young are fighting.

At 80, Pepi Viu has just been kicked out of her home for almost a decade, in a popular neighborhood. She believes the owner wanted to win more rent than the pensioner could pay.

Pepi is already in a hostel and looking for more appropriate, but prices have increased almost 70% of her last employees.

“I can’t find anything – and there is no support. I feel like I have no protection and it’s disruptive,” she says, weak and lean on a stick. “Now there are only tourist apartments, but we, the residents, have to live somewhere!”

In some parts of the city, almost all locals like Pepi are already pushed.

But in a narrow, paved street in the Gothic neighborhood, right in the tourist heart of Barcelona, ​​Joan Alvarez is struggling to hold on to the apartment that his family has rented for 25 years, and at a price he can afford.

The landlord terminated his contract, but Joan refused to leave.

Most of the apartments in his building are already divided into single rooms to bring more rent.

Joan’s small oasis, with tiles with tiles and a terrace that looks at the cathedral, is one of the few intact.

“It’s not just about money, it’s the principle,” he explains, cats are wrapped through pot plants as he talks. “This is Central Barcelona and there is almost no residents of us. It should not be the case.”

“The home should not be a big business. Yes, this is his property, but this is my house.”

Under pressure from protests, authorities in Barcelona have already taken the radical step to announcing a complete ban on short -term rentals of tourists since 2028.

10,000 landlords will lose their tourist housing licenses.

But Jesus Pedan, who owns two popular tourist apartments not far from Sagrada Familia, believes that this is the wrong answer.

“They stopped giving new licenses 10 years ago, but the rents are still increased. So how can we be guilty? We are just an easy enemy,” he insists.

The management of the apartments is his job, providing income for himself and his wife. “We have anxiety now.”

Jesus believes that it is the “nominal” workers who move from elsewhere in Europe who push the rents up, not tourists. “They win and pay more. You can’t stop this.”

He claims that tourist apartments, such as his help, distribute the crowds and money in other parts of the city. Without tourism, he believes that Barcelona would have an “existential crisis” – it represents up to 15% of Spain’s gross domestic product (GDP) as a whole.

If he loses his tourist license, Jesus will not take over the local tenants in any case: the price cap means that the long -term rent is only profitable, so he plans to sell both apartments.

The protest in Barcelona ended with the chants of “You are all Guiris!” – Local jargon for foreigners – and an outburst of fireworks. The red smoke escaped in front of a row of police officers blocking all routes to Sagrada Familia.

A little earlier, the crowd was directed to a busy hotel, kicking a flame in the lobby. Tourists inside, including the children, were clearly shaken.

There were similar protests in Spain in Spain and more crowds in Portugal and Italy: not huge but strong and persistent.

The concerns are the same and there is no consensus how best to deal with it. But Spain is expecting more tourists this summer than ever.

Additeal Reporting by Esperanza Escripano and Bruno Boelpaep