Barcelona is almost excellent –just a bit too crowded, say tourists

Barcelona (CNA).- Barcelona is an almost excellent tourist destination, scoring 8.6 on a scale of 0 to 10. This is according to a new poll released by the local government that nonetheless shows that 58% of those visiting the Catalan capital think that its tourist spots are overcrowded. On summer Sundays, up to 20,000 people arrive in Barcelona by cruise ship. The figure will peak on the 11th of September, when up to 28,100 people are expected to arrive by sea. The 6,000 participants in the poll, conducted in 2015, gave Barcelona’s beaches a score of 7.9, the same score as it received for cleanliness. The city’s signposting is also well-considered, with a score of 8, as are its transport links, which achieved a score of 7.8.

The poll shows that 39.9% of tourists think prices in Barcelona are too high when compared with the quality of the city, while 39.2% do not agree with this statement and 18.3% do not know. The majority of tourists in Barcelona (74.8%) are middle income, while 21.1% are high income and 4.1% are low income. Meanwhile, 66.6% are employees, 23.2% self-employed, 5.6% retired, 1.4% are unemployed and 2.2% are students.

Asked about their reason for travelling to Barcelona, 64.8% of the participants said it was pleasure, 22.2% business and 13% personal reasons. The most visited areas in the city, according to the poll, were the city centre (Plaça Catalunya, Rambles, Passeig de Gràcia), the Sagrada Família, the seaside neighbourhood of la Barceloneta, the beaches, the Güell Park and the FC Barcelona stadium, the Camp Nou.

According to the poll, 82.4% of tourists were from outside Spain, 16.3% from Spain and 1.3% from Catalonia itself. Up to 63.6% of foreign tourists were from the European Union.