Tourism in Barcelona: how much is too much?

How much tourism is too much? As Barcelona is set to complete another record-breaking year, with more than 30 million visitors expected to come according to the city council, many locals feel the city is about to reach the tipping point.

The increase in tourism has been exponential since the 1990s, but has recently accelerated due in part to terrorist attacks and political turmoil in other destinations. The number of nights spent in a hotel, now above 19 million, is five times that of 1990. The number of international passengers who arrive at Barcelona Airport, now more than 32 million per year, is nine times higher. Add 2.7 million cruise passengers, tourists staying in other Catalan towns nearby but also visiting the city, and over 10 million overnight stays in tourist apartments via online platforms like Airbnb.

This has been historically framed as a success story, but residents are starting to disagree.

Against this kind of tourism

Tourism has just become the city’s highest ranked problem according to Barcelona locals, a survey by the city council found. For the first time, more people think the capacity for providing tourist service is being exceeded than those in favor of attracting more visitors.

Over the past few weeks, anti-tourism activists have vandalized bikes in order to protest against a “kind of tourism” which they claim is pushing locals out of their homes. They also slashed the tires of a bus full of tourists and spray-painted the windscreen with the phrase “Tourism kills neighborhoods.”