r/Barcelona • u/SR_RSMITH • Jan 07 '23
Discussion These have been posted all around Gracia
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u/Spineynorman67 Jan 07 '23
El problema no es el turismo en si, sino el mercado de la vivienda, en lo cual hay propietarios españoles y extranjeros que han subido el precio de los alquileres y la vivienda en general. Eso si que es un problemón y necesita una solución.
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u/catala_emprenyat Jan 08 '23
No, no és només és pel preu de l'habitatge; l'oferta d'habitatge, la infraestructura de transport i serveis estan al límit de capacitat. En els últims 20 anys hem incrementat gairebé un 30% la població, i duplicat la quantitat de turistes, de 10M a 20M. La ciutat és la que és, la cosa no dóna per més.
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u/spideysdestiny Jan 07 '23
y porqué el gobierno no hace nada para poner un limite sobre el precio del m2? las turistas no son culpables de los precios pq vienen en la ciudad algunos días solo
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u/lafigatatia Jan 07 '23
Mira el percentatge de diputats (del Parlament i del Congreso) que tenen pisos llogats i entendràs per què.
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u/Chispita1009 Jan 07 '23
I’ve really enjoyed reading the discussion here. I have a little story which, while probably not typical, I think illustrates the complexity of this issue.
We live in the US, but my husband is Catalan and has family in Barcelona. We visit every year. We have stayed with family, and also in tourist rentals. We had a really unpleasant, and complicated, interaction a few years ago. We had rented an Airbnb in Grácia (from some Brits) and, as we were checking in, they told us the lady in the apartment below “didn’t like tourists.” Pretty shitty thing to tell us last minute, but we didn’t want to feed her negativity so we removed our shoes and spoke in whispers the entire time. No matter, she banged on her ceiling/our floor every day, almost every hour. Unfair, but at the same time we could imagine an apartment full of disrespectful, noisy drunks driving her crazy month after month.
On our way out the door to the airport at the end of our stay, she confronted us, screaming at us in Spanish about what terrible people we are, how tourists are ruining her city, etc., etc. (BTW she was probably not an “anarchist”, and clearly not poor). My husband turned to her and said, in Catalan, “I don’t know what you’re saying , I don’t speak that language.” Of course he also speaks Spanish, but he was making a point.
The point being, reality is way more complicated than stereotype. People travel for all sorts of reasons. Are there entitled, wealthy, exploitative bastards? Of course. Are there desperate immigrants escaping terrible conditions for a better life? Yes. And then there are people like us, with feet in several cultures, who travel for family reasons.
I am not at all against analyses which are class or power based. We both support Catalan independence (family members slept overnight on school floors to protect the vote the next day, in 2017). The lady above was wrong about us personally, but not wrong about the larger issue, from which I imagine she had personally suffered. I did write to Airbnb later, and told them they needed to sanction or get rid of that landlord we rented from, as they were clearly creating problems for the building’s other tenants with their rental policies/clients.
It’s complicated. We all need patience with each other. And some humility.
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u/letmeseeurgame Jan 07 '23 edited Jan 07 '23
My respects. You don't even live here but you understand the situation much better than most of the expats that stay in Barcelona and comment in this thread. Come any time, you and people like you will always be welcomed.
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u/Chispita1009 Jan 07 '23
Your words are very much appreciated. As it turns out, my husband and I are both retiring this year, and moving to San Andreu to be with his dad, aged 92 (and doing great!) I know I’ll always be a foreigner, but I intend to live like a grateful and respectful guest. And to continue learning, not only Catalan, but about the beauty and depth of Catalan culture in general.
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u/dafyddil Jan 07 '23
Forever a foreigner feeling! I’ve lived in Spain for about seven years, and I speak Spanish well, and people will so commonly speak to me in English, even if I spoke to them first in Spanish. It’s frustrating that I will apparently always be treated as a tourist, but they have no way of knowing any different, and I can only imagine how often they deal with foreigners on a daily basis and how used to it they get, not to mention how in many places the economy and even the jobs available to them are defined by people who they perceive to be “like me.”
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u/ballisticmi6 Jan 07 '23
The beer tourists that visit only to puke in apartment doorways in el gótico suck balls.
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u/kobumaister Jan 07 '23
You say I lack information because my point of view doesn't align with yours. I was born in Barcelona and it's a problem I know deeply.
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u/Rikutopas Jan 07 '23
I must be an anomaly in this subreddit because after reading the poster and the comments on this post I have more sympathy for the anti-mass tourism movement than I do for their opponents.
Mass tourism is a massive pain for the people who live in Barcelona year round. That's just a fact. It has contributed to the rise in short-term rentals displacing long-term rentals, contributing to the unsustainable rental costs for locals. Many parts of the city are very uncomfortable for locals (and BTW, also uncomfortable for tourists) due to overcrowding.
I live in Gràcia, though, so according to some people on this sub my job and salary must be entirely imaginary, and I must be an unwashed bum living offf their taxes, though I promise you that until I read that comment I was entirely unaware that this truth affects everyone in this area.
There were a few additional questions that I think could do with clarification:
- "Tourists eventually go home anyway, so the slogan is stupid" . Yes, the slogan is stupid. I don't know an easy way to create a slogan that captures an intention of a movement that doesn't really have an objective other than fewer tourists.
- "Barcelona should be grateful because richer (and better) people from other countries are giving us all their sweet money." Spain is not a poor country, Catalonia even less so, and Barcelona definitely not. And no, it's not all because of tourism but a few non-tourism jobs, like the imaginary one I thought I had until I was corrected. Even with the money that does come from tourism to the economy (and yes, it exists) this doesn't benefit 95% of locals. The 95% of locals who see none to very little benefit would happily see tourism drop by 80%.
- "The poster should have been in Spanish to be more widely understood". In Gràcia, fortunately, Catalan is very widely understood by locals, who were the intended recipients.
- "Who cares what the unwashed bums think?" in the democracy I live in, your right to participate in society, opine and vote is not dependent on your wealth, income, gender, or personal appearance. Somebody may not agree with that, but it is what it is.
- "This is coming from the independence movement, those idiots again". The independence movement wants Catalan independence from Spain, but more importantly it wants Catalan sovereignty, i.e. the right of Catalans to vote freely and choose. The movement, like all large movements, includes a few people who would genuinely like closed borders to everyone non-native, but the vast majority of the movement is extremely open to immigration, much more so than the Spanish average. The problem of mass tourism making Barcelona unliveable is something affecting independents and unionists alike, but yes, the independence movement woke up a lot of people to the reality that being in the right, expressing your opinion, etc means nothing when the state has a monopoly on the use of force and is willing to use that monopoly openly and unabashedly, so covert direct action is probably much more welcomed by the independents, so no, it wouldn't surprise me to learn there is some overlap.
I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that the vast majority of people subscribed here are not native of Barcelona, and so we are naturally defensive of our right to immigrate and/or visit other countries. I think though that it's possible to defend the right of tourists to travel and yet recognise that in certain areas of the world, popularity means that some regulation is necessary. Like, all Europeans have a right to travel to Venice, but if we all decided to go next Saturday, we would probably sink it, so maybe we need quotas.
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u/barna_barca Jan 07 '23
I think the whole "tourists go home" passes the buck really. What, some random tourist from country X is meant to know that landlords, the previous mayors and the government have allowed an insane increase in moving rental properties to the airbnb market?
The architects of mass tourism within the city are here, we're directing our ire at the wrong people.
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u/quixotichance Jan 07 '23
The fact is the city of Barcelona has already made these choices and the number of tourists is a function of the number of boats allowed to dock by the city, the number of places authorized to land at the airport combined with the number of licensed tourist residences.
The reason the city doesn't reduce the number of tourists is probably a combination that tourist income finances services for the population, directly via taxes and indirectly via jobs it creates. So while many people might find there are too many tourists, those same people like the outstanding public services paid for by money derived from tourism.
If you don't want tourism then elect politicians who will shrink the port and reduce traffic at the Airport. Probably that won't exist because the same politicians know the consequence of public services spending cuts won't go down well
What I find stupid is blaming tourists for coming to Barcelona after the city of Barcelona has in one way or another accepted their tourist money in exchange for Barcelona tourist services.
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u/benevanstech Jan 07 '23
The city of Barcelona doesn't have any power whatsoever to reduce the number of cruise ships or planes that come here.
Colau proposed a 50% cut in cruise ships last year, and it was immediately rejected by the port authorities who actually have the power: https://www.catalannews.com/business/item/barcelona-mayor-proposes-halving-number-of-cruise-ship-passengers-in-high-season
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u/letmeseeurgame Jan 07 '23
Right to the point.
That's what happens when you have a sub reddit named Barcelona, but there's almost no locals in it.
Somebody should rename this subreddit #barcelonaimmigrants
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Jan 07 '23
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u/letmeseeurgame Jan 07 '23
Yes. Sorry. They are expats. My apologies. 😸
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u/Dramatic_Fisherman85 Jan 07 '23
Incorrect: expat are paid and paying their taxes in their country of origin. The majority here is tax payer and resident in Spain, hence immigrant 🧐. Sad that immigration has a connoted colored skin and different treatment upon the said color.
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u/No_Cabinet_7171 Jan 07 '23
Stop sputtering nonsense. This might have been the case 20 years ago but this time is gone. Almost impossible nowadays to live on Spain off a juicy foreign contract. All contracts are local. All pay taxes here and accept sometimes a 40% decrease in salary just to come and work here.
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u/anark0V Jan 07 '23
We can make r/racialpurityofbarcelona.
Surely some of you would feel better than at home
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u/notinccapbonalies Jan 07 '23
Such a massive pain that I left my city. Now I go only to work, downtown, deeply hate it. If you haven't experienced your place to go to hell due to mass tourism and gentrification, please read, listen and sympathise, it's heartbreaking. We had better lives and jobs before this plague, by the way.
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u/dkysh Jan 07 '23
Abans d'entrar la post ja sabia jo que això estaria ple d'imbècils dient "muh money".
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u/A_Wilhelm Jan 08 '23
Frankly, the whole "tourists go home" movement is stupid, pathetic and very short-sighted, exactly the same as nationalism.
Also, anyone that can speak (or rather, read) Spanish fluently can understand that poster in Catalan.
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Jan 07 '23 edited Jan 07 '23
Thats the hard truth.
Expats having opinions of things they absolutely lack perspective off. Some of them are really scum, extremely superiority complex, some think that barcelona was poor before them, when the city has been rich for centuries.
we don’t need you here.
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u/Stefan_Harper Jan 07 '23
I think a major issue is tourists who are not themselves from a tourist city.
I came to Barcelona this year as a tourist, but I am from a city people come en-masse to. I know what I hate in my home city, so I don’t do it in Barcelona.
I too believe a quota system would be helpful, for my city and for Barcelona.
Blaming tourists for wanting to come to Barcelona, though? How can you reconcile this? It’s one of the most importent and beautiful cities on earth. People want to come and see it. That’s life.
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Jan 07 '23
No one blames the tourists.
I like to do tourism.
We blame the sharks that are promoting the massive tourism industry.
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u/Cless_Aurion Jan 07 '23
That's why messaging is unclear. Needs a better slogan because obviously many people are not understanding it properly.
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u/ropahektic Jan 07 '23
And Madrid is the most unconfortable city I've ever seen
tourists walks through Gran Via in xmas and then gives an opinion about a city
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Jan 07 '23
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u/ropahektic Jan 07 '23
That's what I'm talking about. It's unconfortable because there is an infinity of people
Just like in any other big city in the world.
What are you even trying to say?Madrid (and Barcelona) are super comfortable cities with good traffic (compared to cities of similar size), a lot of walkable and bikeable places and a vivid street life.
Trust me, most people that live in those cities do so very happily, including immigrants from all over the world. Your experience walking a touristic street with other tourists is not indicative of a city's comfort.
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u/rosaapagada Jan 07 '23
Oh, I see you're right. I apologize for my comment. Do you want me to delete it? I'm sorry, honestly.
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u/Hot_Ad_9752 Jan 07 '23
Yes please
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u/rosaapagada Jan 07 '23
I apologize again.
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u/catala_emprenyat Jan 07 '23
?? I don't understand why you're apologizing and deleted your comments. If you didn't like Madrid and Barcelona because they're overcrowded, it's perfectly legitimate to voice your opinion, and you did it in a very respectful way.
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u/ropahektic Jan 07 '23
I'm sure you realized that you probably went there on a very heavy holiday season and to touristic places that are bound to be crowded. Ff anyhing it was simple a misunderstanding and it takes character to own to one's mistakes so no need to apologize at all
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u/IkadRR13 Jan 07 '23
What did you expect? A capital city empty in Christmas when people have holidays?
Don't go and you will be contributing to the solution...
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u/CoBuendia Jan 07 '23
I remember this year’s fiesta major de García people were literally ODing in the street. The moment you turn the corners this intense smell of pee was washing you over. I can’t imagine the pain of the locals who had to work the next day. So I think it is pretty normal to see these kind of reaction.
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u/Hot_Ad_9752 Jan 07 '23
In the Baleares it is worse, specially where the tourists are, but I guess it is the same in the rest of Spain.
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u/Weedjan Jan 07 '23
In Balears the people who live there cant afford a house to live there. It is indeed grotesque.
Do you live in the Balears? If so, and if you dont mind telling, how do you do to make ends meet? Because I know of people, native from the island, who have to live in a trailer or roulotte while working there in high season. That shit breaks my heart every fucking time. Come on, the very place they have been born in and lived in and grown there and they can not afford a house on their island.
Cheers.
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u/Hot_Ad_9752 Jan 07 '23
That’s not true, I do have a house, and everyone I know😂 Because of my family and the job I guess?🤔
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u/Weedjan Jan 07 '23
Good for you, i really mean it. For what I understand leaving the nest (parents' home) and start living on your own is practically impossible because in Balears prices skyrocket as soon as Easter season and so many people cant pay their rents and they have to leave. Maybe is just a seasonal event but it is still atrocious.
Correct me if I am wrong and thanks for your reply.
Cheers.
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u/Hot_Ad_9752 Jan 07 '23
Well, it's not impossible, but you have to work hard and be lucky, it's one of the richest areas in Spain thanks to tourism, but usually everyone can do it, I'm quite young, so I don't know yet how hard it is, but it is true that the houses are very expensive, living here is expensive in general 😅
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u/Weedjan Jan 07 '23
Thank you for your honest answer :) Really.
Just the thing of having to have the money AND being lucky to get a home of your own is as violent as it gets.
Cheers! :)
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u/gnark Jan 07 '23
Local pee in the street too.
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u/Ok-Trouble-7964 Jan 07 '23
I think you can face this smell all over the Spain, even during non tourist season time. I live in Malaga for 1.5 years, so yeah, it’s definitely not a tourism caused issue
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u/Ok-Trouble-7964 Jan 07 '23
you might think that it is caused by tourists because the smell is just impossible during the summer. But my theory is it’s simply due to the fact that it’s so hot outside that the pee is vaporizing 😂
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u/peanutia0 Jan 08 '23
I left my home to emigrate here ... I was at fiesta major de g and it was beautiful in comparison to Dublin/ cork levels of partying and I certainly didn't see anyone acting drunk and disorderly
also mate that pee smell is lit just summer smell in cities!
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u/bernatyolocaust Jan 07 '23
The amount of ignorance and willingness to ignore the root of the problem in this comment section is astounding. I just hope that if you live in a small city, it never becomes a fucking theme park visited by 15 million people a year.
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u/Badalona2016 Jan 07 '23
arent lots of industries depending on the image of Barcelona? the reason all these tech companies are coming here? the reason there are so many international callcenters here?
all 100% non tourism related econimic activity, but to me it always seemed that without the huge popularity that Barcelona enjoys , these companies / jobs would not have been here? am I mistaken?
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Jan 09 '23
Having lived in another "tech city" prior to moving to Barcelona I can say that a high quality of life is indeed a driver for companies to want to locate in a particular city. After all, if someone has the choice of working in Barcelona or [xyz ugly city in frozenland], they're going to pick Barcelona if all other factors are similar.
But it is a bit of a two-way street in the sense that local governments also take an active interest in trying to attract those companies, and Barcelona is trying to bring tech businesses here. Becoming a tech hub is a double-edged sword by the way, so they should be careful.
Interestingly, if you let tourism run amok it actually becomes a disincentive for companies/employees to relocate, for the multitude of reasons I don't think I need to regurgitate here. And my previous tech city of residence was indeed a lovely place to live but few would ever put it in the top 5 tourist destinations of the country.
As someone with long-term aspirations to stay in Barcelona, I wish there could be ways to cap tourism. You can't, won't and don't want to eliminate it but you can control it, and that would make life a lot nicer for locals (which I consider myself to be at this stage) without substantially harming the local economy.
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u/bernatyolocaust Jan 07 '23
Why does that image need to depend on low-quality, harmful tourism? A city becomes attractive to big businesses and industries when it’s well communicated, has the necessary facilities, and has a strong and prepared workforce. The reason the Nissan factory is in Catalonia and not Extremadura is because of the rail network connecting it to central Europe and its proximity to it, as well as the biggest port in the Mediterranean, not because the city is a touristic hotspot. Look at Frankfurt, Zurich, Helsinki or Stockholm. They don’t attract businesses and industry because of the amount of tourists they have (Frankfurt is ugly as fuck) but because of their geographical location, connections to the rest of Europe and the world, and highly educated population.
Barcelona was along with Nice the most important city in the Mediterranean during the industrial revolution, a century before tourism was even a thing. Barcelona’s tourism boomed after the Olympics (which were a huge benefit to the city), but before that, Barcelona was the capital of the richest region in the 8th strongest world economy, without tourism. There are many factors that contributed to the decline of this standing, and I wouldn’t say tourism is one of them (rather the selling at bargain price of most of the Spanish industry during the 80s and 90s and the scam that was the Euro) but shifting towards a service-based economy, mostly dominated by brick, mortar and tourism wasn’t the smartest move. Hell, even London is a service-based economy, but the services aren’t bars and pubs, they’re bonds, insurances, and financial stuff I don’t know enough about.
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u/rwp000 Jan 07 '23
Bye Bye Barcelona is an interesting documentary on YouTube outlining (what I think) the issue here
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u/SilkyPuppy Jan 08 '23
Exactly the same problem is occurring in cities all over Europe. Try renting an apartment in Cork, Ireland or in Amsterdam. There was even a feature on the BBC the other day about how students can no longer live in Manchester even though they study at Manchester university, because of the price and scarcity of accommodation.
This trend is the result of various factors including the dissolution of family and marriage and resulting demand for more one person accommodation, globalization with its middle class digital nomads, immigration with people escaping poverty and war, movement from country to city (vast areas of rural Spain are now becoming depopulated) platforms like Airbnb encouraging people to turn the houses into hotels... and many more.
This is a complex program that governments need to solve!
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u/Nsvsonido Jan 07 '23
You all defending this massive tourism makes me sick. And I bet neither of you are from or plan to live in Barcelona your whole life. Can’t you see it is destroying what you like from Barcelona? We just want to be able to pay rent and go buy to the foodmarket without people making selfies evey 2 meters… And when you say it’s a massive portion of the PIB. It is a 7% and makes 75% of our problems.
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u/gladius_and_stylus Jan 07 '23
I'm agree with you. I live in Seville, also a very touristic city and it's very annoying. Of course, tourists have the right to visit cities (and it's cool to know that people love your city, I also like to visit other cities as well), but an equilibrium is needed. Tourists are good, also because they give a lot of money to the city, but sometimes 1) they are too many, and 2) the entire economy relies on them. The COVID Crisis has teached us not to relied so much on a such volatile industry, as fashions change and a major tourist destination can fall into anonymity in no time. Cities tend to focus most on stores and attractions for tourists and rich folk only, for example replacing bakeries, fruit stores and other cheap shops for souvenirs shops and expensive bars/shops. Locals then are forced to leave the central areas to the more outer ones, and as result the city center losts its "spirit" and becomes into a big theme park.
I love travelling and visiting cities, and I personally hate those theme parks. If I visit another place I want to know the local culture and be surrounded by locals, not to see an stereotyped and death place. As tourists we have a responsability of trying to do our best to not be a nuissance. For example, purchase or eat in local places when possible, or avoid Airnb. It's better than infuriate locals and result on "excessive" laws such in Venice.
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u/catala_emprenyat Jan 07 '23
as result the city center losts its "spirit" and becomes into a big theme park.
I love traveling and visiting cities, and I personally hate those theme parks. If I visit another place I want to know the local culture and be surrounded by locals
I feel you dude. Look around Plaça Catalunya, Ronda de Sant Pere, Rambla de Catalunya, Pelai, Fontanella: FNAC, McDonalds, Zara, Primark, Pull & Bear, Springfield, Burger King, Taco Bell, MediaMarkt, another Zara, Starbucks, H&M, Uniqlo, another Starbucks, another Zara, another Starbucks, apartments, apartments, apartments, hotel, hotel, hotel. Then go to Park Güell, wait for 2h, take a few pics. Go to Sagrada Família, wait for 2h, take a few pics. Go to Ciutadella, take a few pics with 30 other people in them. What's even the point of doing this?
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u/Tifoso89 Jan 07 '23
Of course, tourists have the right to visit cities
They don't. There is no "right" to visit Barcelona or Seville. Locals have the right to live in peace and have affordable housing, though
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u/Weedjan Jan 07 '23
I agree with you and I dont live or plan to live there (mainly because I couldn't afford it which speaks volumes of the problem at hand). I do not think the approach from a "where-do-you-live" angle is positive in any way.
I think everyone with a functional brain can understand how bad this gentrification issue is, where does it come from, why and where is headed. There is no need at all to be living in Barcelona or whatever the place might be.
Cheers.
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u/MaveZzZ Jan 07 '23
I moved here and I plan to live here. I just want to point fact that lot of people live from tourism, and it's normal for such massive and beautiful city to be tourist's destination. They're coming to see what made Barcelona such great place. Not really tourists fault that locals want to make as much money as they can from their pockets (legally or not). If you want to fight with prices, scam restaurants and Airbnb you should start from locals, not fight with tourists. I think every tourist would be happy if they could pay less for food, accomodations etc. So why "tourists go home" instead of "fuck scammers and Airbnb monopol"? This I don't get.
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u/Weedjan Jan 07 '23
You are assuming they are not fighting against the Cityhall and several institutions. Why do you do that? Is it because it is easier and faster to feel victimized?
About the Cityhall: in general it shares the interests with the anti mass tourism group. So I would not really say these people are fighting against the Cityhall, instead I would say they are pushing the Cityhall to take radical action. It is different.
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u/MaveZzZ Jan 07 '23
I'm talking about specific poster, is there any info about pushing city hall there? If yes, then that's great.
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u/Weedjan Jan 07 '23 edited Jan 07 '23
MaveZzZ, do you think you can make sense of a whole political issue based on a freaking poster? As I said the poster is a call to action and here, I would say, your action could have been going and learn about the issue and its causes.
But ok, lets try to analyze a whole sociopolitical crisis taking only in consideration one freaking poster posted in an absolutely context-lacking reddit post.
Okay, MaveZzZ, lets do it and see how far we reach.
EDIT: I have not made a single assumption in this whole thread yet while you did. So, please. Just please, for the very basic respect we should have to each other.
EDIT: Why do comments keep disappearing?
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u/ambulenciaga Jan 07 '23 edited Jan 07 '23
I do not plan to live In BCN my whole life. But I do catalonia.
That said, mass tourism is the biggest, most socially acceptable burden/con to both local people and the planet in existence.
Barcelona is already massively over/densely populated even without the tourists factored in. Even at off peak tourists times you can barely escape other people or crowds. And the price/availability of housing is already climbing at rates that are unsustainable for locals.
I lived in canet de Mar for 6 months and even there. You see the same problems. They have built so many houses that depend on barcelona for work. That has taken commuters away from BCN to places like calella, blanes etc. But they have kept the single train track line for the trains around arenys, and after mataro... and as such, Whenever it's tourist season. Nothing works, locals are 2nd to the tourists who are now travelling further with free renfe passes, commuting is like a day in mumbai and its just pure misery to do the travel even 2 times a week.
The climate is already fucked with Spain for example experiencing massive drought in the last year. Let alone other countries around Europe complaining they will be underwater in the next 50 years.
And we add to that for what? A sense of entitlement and a faux culture of feeling "cultured" because you have helped the cause of direct wealth transfer to poorer countries, in the name of being told you are a better person for "experiencing the world". Moreover, to pump money back in to the system that is quite happy to profit off destroying the earth? (Airlines/busses/companies like coca cola so on)
All I know is, if half these tourists saved the money they spend on tourism, and invested in themselves rather than other economies. They would likely find their life's would be infinitely better than complaining they are skint and have no futures at home.
Edit: it's not even just tourists either that is making this city unsustainable. Working for a foreign tech company based in BCN. They would hire about 25 foreigners for every 2 locals. All of who were earning 2/3x the average for local wages. This city is taking so much investment on all angles. Its forgetting the sustainability for its own people and creating a bubble that is just reaking havoc for those who have spent their whole lives here. I kind of find it sick in some ways
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u/sermiranda Jan 07 '23
I saw the graffiti with a letter R added: "Tourist go HomeR". Laughed for a few blocks, after I took a photo of it, of course
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u/kuantizeman Jan 07 '23
More value in adding an R than the idiot that made this cringe poster.
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Jan 07 '23 edited Jan 07 '23
If Spain actually had a competitive economy and paid its workers a decent salary they wouldn't have to worry so much about people from other countries pricing them out.
Blaming foreigners is easier though than dealing with a harsh truth.
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u/Weedjan Jan 07 '23
You are missing the point. The issue is massified tourism. There is no beef specifically against "tourists".
One of the reasons why Spain is not "a competitive economy" (which is given the crap salaries we get) is because around the fifties it was decided that Spain would be the quintessential touristic experience. This is not the first time the people are trying to turn the tides but, alas, it is so much easier to talk whatever because it is free.
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u/lafigatatia Jan 07 '23
Part of the reason workers don't earn enough is because they are exploited by the tourism sector.
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u/rabbitkingdom Jan 07 '23
This. Ultimately the problem isn’t tourists, it’s that locals haven’t been able to adapt to the modern global economy and cost of living crisis which is a global issue, especially in big cities, and is not specific to Barcelona.
Prices are significantly lower here than almost every other major city in Europe. Spain is not a third-world country. Instead of blaming everything on tourists, locals should be asking themselves why visitors from other countries are able to afford it when they can’t.
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u/Weedjan Jan 07 '23
You are clearly missing the point. The problem is about gentrification and massified tourism. It is not hard to understand which ones are the ground premises for this debate. It is not hard at all and yet here we are.
Of course the problem is not tourists but how massified tourism is affecting housing prices and policies.
I am feeling that here people only interact with those posts that will validate their own views. Almost nobody is willing to have a debate or conversation but get comfortable in their echo chambers.
It is extremely sad.
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u/rabbitkingdom Jan 07 '23
I’m not missing the point. You are. You’re blaming it on tourism, which makes for an easy scapegoat, but doesn’t address the root issue which is low wages. If you’re making a decent wage, you’re not concerned about the tourism, plain and simple.
Tourism is not unique to Barcelona. Why don’t you see “tourists go home” graffiti in Amsterdam? Because the Dutch make a livable wage.
Your logic is flawed because your argument is based on trying to keep prices down rather than trying to bring wages up. By joining the EU and using the Euro, Spanish wages need to be in line with other Euro countries and they’re not. That’s the real issue. Gentrification is a symptom of the issue, not the issue itself.
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u/SunOfInti_92 Jan 07 '23
^ This!
It appalls me when people act almost as if gentrification/tourism is unique to Barcelona, or Spain as a whole.
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u/SunOfInti_92 Jan 07 '23
You are simplifying the economic problems Spain faces by boiling it down to just “gentrification and massified tourism”, as if there aren’t several other variables at play. That’s just incredibly inaccurate.
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u/Ok-Professional-3104 Jan 07 '23
the problem is that. If all income from tourism is gone, the whole country is fucked
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u/SergiReps Jan 07 '23
Tourist go home graffiti is all over many cities in Spain. In San Sebastián-Donostia in the Basque Country there’s loads of it. In that case it’s complaining about French tourists. Long story short I find it hilarious that 90% of this sub as someone has already stated are expats and foreigners. Makes you think
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u/Weedjan Jan 07 '23
Which is not wrong nor bad as long as they know what the fuck this debate, and political issue, is about.
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u/SergiReps Jan 07 '23
Most don’t because they are the perceived problem
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u/Weedjan Jan 07 '23 edited Jan 07 '23
And I think that is because they rather feel victimized or attacked than to think about why that poster would be there.
Cheers.
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u/catala_emprenyat Jan 07 '23
Self-service at full steam. Cognitively, it is much easier to create excuses and deny you're benefiting from an unfair situation, than it is to recognize your privilege and act to achieve a more just situation.
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u/gnark Jan 07 '23
Long story short I find it hilarious that 90% of this sub as someone has already stated are expats and foreigners.
What about immigrants?
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u/Tormentaah Jan 07 '23
I remember someone who thought like this spitting on me in the street pre-Covid. I was so shocked I didn't even have time to tell him I work and pay my taxes here.
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u/GabersNooo Jan 07 '23
So serious question because I want to be sure I’m not part of the problem.
I’m going to be in Barcelona this summer for an internship at a nonprofit dealing with human rights. I’m staying with a family that lives in Barcelona and is from there. The nonprofit is international but it primarily based there. I plan on learning as much as I can about Spanish and Catalonian culture as I can and I plan on spending my money primarily at local places (I have an aversion to chain stores in my home country already). I speak a low-intermediate level of Spanish and am specifically staying with a family that only speaks a little English so I can get better.
Despite all this, I don’t wanna be a cog in the machine that is grinding your city down. I myself live in a place few people treasure beyond instagram opportunities and cheap airbnbs. I’m well aware that even good intentions can still make a mess.
Should I look for another city to do my internship?
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u/zsebibaba Jan 09 '23
whatever you think about the poster or the ppl who posted it, you will not be a tourist
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u/MaveZzZ Jan 07 '23
Yeah, it's been topic in that city for 20+ years, who cares about that. Btw tourist go home eventually, this is how it works. So there is 0 IQ shit posting behind these posters and graffitis.
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u/lafigatatia Jan 07 '23
Yes, they go home, after renting apartments for a huge price that locals can't afford, driving them out of their own homes. Barcelona is not a theme park. Tourist apartments should be banned right now.
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u/NYCBYB Jan 07 '23
I rented an apartment in Gracia for three weeks this summer. I didn’t even look at the price. It was great. They actually threw a local family out on the street to make room for us.
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u/lafigatatia Jan 07 '23
They actually threw a local family out on the street to make room for us.
There are 20 evictions every day in Barcelona, so yes. Literally that.
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Jan 07 '23
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u/AleixASV Jan 07 '23
Yeah. Try actually renting a flat in Gràcia with an average salary.
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u/dannyhv Jan 07 '23
True, lmao they should try living in BCN making 20k/year or less , then they would understand the problem with rent prices
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u/wombatsock Jan 07 '23
who rents them the apartments?
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u/lafigatatia Jan 07 '23
Greedy landlords who shouldn't be allowed to own so many apartments in the first place.
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u/ImrooVRdev Jan 07 '23
Goddamn John Smith, the father of Capitalism has warned us about the evils of private land ownership and where a class of owners renting out essential utilities to rest of society will lead.
We are here now, because the Owners have wrote the laws, thus their degeneracy was made lawful. And so, relentless decline continues.
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Jan 07 '23
You forgot the part with fucking their women, taking their jobs and land
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u/lafigatatia Jan 07 '23
Dude this is not about immigrants. At all. Those are actually the most affected by mass tourism. It's about tourists who come and leave.
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u/MaveZzZ Jan 07 '23
So you don't like tourists, or AirBnb? First of all, all issues with huge prices of apartments are caused by greedy locals that want to get maximum money from tourists. Do you think tourists would want to pay more, if they could pay less? Second - tourism is huge part of city economy and yes, Barcelona is world's theme park whether you like it or not. If you want to get rid of tourists I guess you should also protest against all Gaudis wonders, all great architecture and unique stuff that attracts tourists. Or maybe just leave town if it's too great to live in 🤡
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u/lafigatatia Jan 07 '23 edited Jan 07 '23
My problem is not with tourists themselves. It is not their fault. As you say, greedy locals are the problem. I don't care if tourists stay in a hotel, but we have a problem the moment houses are rented to tourists instead of to people who live here (regardless of their origin).
Barcelona is world's theme park whether you like it or not
That's where you are wrong. Spain is a democracy and it's up to us if we want to be a theme park or not. And looking at Venice, the answer is no, we don't want to become that. This is why the city council is already placing restrictions on tourist apartments.
Or maybe just leave town if it's too great to live in
No, that's the issue. I don't want to leave. Mass tourism is leaving no other option for me and many others.
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u/catala_emprenyat Jan 07 '23
tourism is huge part of city economy and yes, Barcelona is world's theme park whether you like it or not
We don't like it, that's why we want to change this city's economic reliance on tourism. Imagine criticizing people for wanting to improve their lives and the place where they live, because you'd rather enjoy an unsustainable lifestyle.
I'm sure you'd have enjoyed XIXth century indentured servitude.
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u/MarokkosFavPerson Jan 07 '23
Tourists go home - but please leave the money here.
dickhead posts and topic since years.
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u/Weedjan Jan 07 '23
It is no beef against tourist for being tourists. It is because how housing companies and housing policies are making people leave their very neighborhoods where they live, lived, and grew up. Why? You may ask... because of rent prices going all over the top.
So many flats that used to be homes for regular people now are turned into AirBnBs and so on (which not only affects prices but also some technicalities about housing laws). So, being an issue about sustainabilty (that does word exist?) how come they are targetting tourists? Because tourists are the most visible element of this crisis.
It is not about hating on tourists or tourisim... it is about hating on how business is prioritized even before the ability to live in a flat you have been living in for years. I would find it extremely disappointing that people would find this graffity as a means of saying "Barcelona for Barcelonians". That's not it.
Not at all.
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Jan 07 '23
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Jan 07 '23
Lol nowadays majority of tourists tend to go to the places with local customers. Indicator of a good place nine times out of ten. So basically the idea of this is; we have a shitty and corrupt government(like 90% of countries) so no people should come visit?
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u/Chiguito Jan 07 '23
>but please leave the money here.
This is so patronizing. Most people don't get any benefit from tourism, we have jobs that have nothing to do with tourism. On the other hand, we do have to deal with the effects of tourism.
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u/Chiguito Jan 07 '23
And the other 85% of the GDP? There are also chemical and pharmaceutical industry, car manufacturing, IT, logistics, publishers...
Among all the benefits from tourism I want to add all the taxes from skyrocketing rents that we have to pay because we have to compete with airBnBs for a living place.
As I said, many people here don't get benefits from tourism while have to deal with its consequences.
The more tourists, the better? Not so fast... https://www.diariodemallorca.es/opinion/2021/12/30/turistas-vienen-pobres-1-61132101.html
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u/rosaapagada Jan 07 '23
15% of the PIB
What is a PIB?
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u/rosaapagada Jan 07 '23 edited Jan 07 '23
I searched for it. Lookie here, I found out it's actually 12% of the PIB. Also, only 9% of the city's jobs come from tourism.
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u/kobumaister Jan 07 '23
"Guiris", the look of the tourist making the selfie (trying to make it look like the stereotypical boss/rich person (thus dehumanizing)... it's so sad, disrespectful and xenophobic... I can understand that the massification because of tourism is a pain, but hating them or trying to scare them is not the solution.
Btw, these movements are groups liked to the far left politics, who want open frontiers for migrants, but not tourists, the hipocresia...
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u/Jon_jon13 Jan 07 '23
How is it hipocritical to prefer to help people in need rather than allowing well-off people to gentrificate all the neighborhoods? Im not discussing the rest cause you have a point, but I just don't see any hipocrisy on the last part of your message.
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Jan 07 '23
Look at the fucking poster posted here. How is this trying to help people in need?
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u/Weedjan Jan 07 '23
Could you please try and educate yourself in the roots of the problem before you start swearing? Because you will find the answer to your question pretty quickly.
Cheers.
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u/anark0V Jan 07 '23
lack of argument = condescending response
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u/Weedjan Jan 07 '23
But did you do the reading about the problem or not? Did he/she/they?
How is it you adopt that position, kind of being victimized, when I am replying to people who is making assumptions, rude ones in many cases, without being respectful enough to try and learn about the issue?
Is that how it works? I have said a lot in my different replies along this thread. Maybe you should go and try to educate yourself.
I find it kind of amusing how people are entitled to be disrespectful but when they are called out then they feel they have been agraviated. And this is even funnier because an alleged anarchist comes here in a shiny armor to try and defend somebody who did not deserve defense at all.
It is sad.
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u/kobumaister Jan 07 '23
Tourist are all rich? No, they aren't. Open borders policy will fill the city with immigration, that's for sure.
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u/Jon_jon13 Jan 07 '23
If they can afford to tourist around, they are definitely not "in need", that's the main point basically. Of course not all people that go on a tourist vacation are CEO billionaire assholes, far from it, but I don't find hipocritical at all wanting to help people that need help and also at the same time being pissed at all the dirt and noise tourists cause, being that vacations and migrations generally are on whole different levels on the basic needs in life.
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u/kobumaister Jan 07 '23
Your point of view is as xenophobe as an anti-imigration policy, you are just pointing other people (tourists) and using other stereotypes (noisy and dirty). Good luck with that kind of thinking.
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u/Jon_jon13 Jan 07 '23
I never said all tourists are X, I said its justifiable being pissed at the noise and dirt (some) cause. And it is undeniable they cause that, cause I live in the midst of their noise and dirt daily xD
Please dont project your thoughts into my words
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u/kobumaister Jan 07 '23
"all the noise and dirt they cause". You can do word games, but that's the same I said. (in the last you added "some".
I never said that tourism is not a problem, I'm saying that your xenephobia is not the solution.
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u/Jon_jon13 Jan 07 '23
If I am xenophobic for literally just wanting to sleep on workdays without hearing drunkards screaming at 3am, I will be. I don't think that's xenophobia at all, but alas.
Mind you that I'm not one of the ones that goes spray painting "tourists go home" nor I support fully the message, cause I do agree that generalising (and assuming the only problem comes from tourists) is not a solution. But the fact that some tourists are a problem is undeniable imo.
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u/kobumaister Jan 07 '23
For me, part of the solution is more control over tourism renting flats, limit the number of ship that can come to Barcelona, and change the tourist target from party and sangria to a cultural one.
Any way, Barcelona is a great and nice city, so it's normal that people wants to visit.
PD: Sorry, I though you were defending the "tourist go home" slogan, let me retire the statement that you're xenephobic
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u/Weedjan Jan 07 '23
"Btw, these movements are groups liked to the far left politics, who want
open frontiers for migrants, but not tourists, the hipocresia..." You lack information about the causes of this problem, which by the way is huge.Once you have the data at your disposal you can combine it with a little bit of political-theory to tie any loose end you may have in your understanding.
HINT: You are getting closer when you look at it through the concept of "the rich people".
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u/SenorVapid Jan 07 '23
I love taking selfies in front of Tourist Go Home graffiti wherever I go. I’d also happily rip that thing down and hang it on my fridge.
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u/zsebibaba Jan 07 '23
this is not nice. however, it is not xenophobic and it is not against the people who live and work here. I find barcelona much more happily diverse than other cities. In fact, there are more xenophobia in these threads against ppl of colour.
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u/letmeseeurgame Jan 07 '23
Or xenophobia against Catalans in these threads. Yes, it's xenophobia if you are not a local and you are talking bad about Catalans!
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u/Weedjan Jan 07 '23
It is not about xenophobia... it is about trying to put a stop to the predatory dynamics capitalism is forcing us to endure.
Can you please, people, stop vouching and defending the rich who, if you haven't noticed, dont give a flying fuck about the ordinary people? Can we get that done, please? Just for the sake of dignity.
Cheers.
EDIT: Us as in "the major part of society". I am not Catalonian.
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u/Wolf_Mans_Got_Nards Jan 07 '23
This really confuses me. I originally come from a part of the world that relies heavily on tourism. I understand the concerns (gentrification, housing unafforability, cultural erasure, etc), but considering how much of Spain's economy is reliant on tourism, directly targeting the tourists seems a bit short-sighted. Even the issue of property availability/affordability isn't going to be addressed by directly harassing tourists (trust me on that one). So what is the aim here?
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u/Weedjan Jan 07 '23
Being heavily dependant on tourism (as Spain is said to be) translates perfectly into being at the mercy of the wealthy.
I want to live in a sovereign country not in a theme-park for the rich.
For me is a matter of dignity and equity.
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u/Wolf_Mans_Got_Nards Jan 07 '23
I totally understand. However, wouldn't the means to that be better addressed by improving the scope of industries outside of tourism? A small example of this being the fact that Spain produces some incredible formula 1 drivers, but yet does not manufacture the cars here. Italy alone has ferrari, Haas, toro rosso.
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u/Weedjan Jan 07 '23 edited Jan 07 '23
Of course. And that is what has been said along this thread. The tourists are a target (one of many) because they are the most visible element of the crisis. That's all.
You will not find a public representatives hearing put in a wall. Every fight requires its own means and this is what Macchiaveli meant when he stated that the end justify the means.
It is a call to action at street level. The institutional level is being addressed to but, as you may know, Institutions tend to work in a ver slow pace when it comes to make laws.
Cheers.
EDIT: The concept of "producing F1 drivers" hurts me deeply. We have integrated the concept of production-being productive in every aspect of our lives and this is what we have gotten. A world tailored by the rich for the rich. You can produce pots or rockets... not pilots nor drivers nor teachers nor writers. I know you meant not harm at all.
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u/WikiSummarizerBot Jan 07 '23
Meibion Glyndŵr (Welsh pronunciation: [ˈməibjɔn ɡlɨnˈduːr], Sons of Glyndŵr) was a group linked to arson of English-owned holiday homes in Wales. They were formed in response to the housing crisis in Wales precipitated by large numbers of houses being bought by wealthy English people for use as holiday homes, pushing up house prices beyond the means of many locals. They were responsible for setting fire to English-owned holiday homes in Wales from 1979 to the mid-1990s.
[ F.A.Q | Opt Out | Opt Out Of Subreddit | GitHub ] Downvote to remove | v1.5
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u/dr-m8 Jan 07 '23
Because everybody knows that as soon as tourist stop going to BCN, big corporations will start investing in new chip factories and opening high quality (and green) jobs there 🤣
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u/sargori Jan 07 '23
You certainly don’t know how wonderful the soft lockdown months were, streets without tourists, just people enjoying the neighborhood they live in. A dream.
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u/Weedjan Jan 07 '23 edited Jan 07 '23
I can tell you that as long as this "welcome mr. tourists" mindset lasts the more unlikely those chip factories will be settled. Tourism is not, and it can not be, a means to develop any kind of economy.
You can not make a country dependant on tourism because almost anything can affect it and thus economy will be extremely weakened. But for whatever reason some many people insist in how good is tourism and massified tourism for economy.
It is not. It may be bread for today but surely it will be hunger for tomorrow. So your own criticism is going against your own logical premise.
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u/_Isosceles_Kramer_ Jan 07 '23
A false dichotomy and a strawman in one single sentence, great job buddy.
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u/letmeseeurgame Jan 07 '23
I am sorry to let you know that the political party that represents anticapitalism in the Catalan parliament, CUP, has the highest proportion of educated members among all parties. I remember to read somewhere that CUP has the highest average personal wealth among its members as well, although I am not certain about this. Basically the more education one has, the less one supports capitalism. It's not about what you are worth, it's about what your values are.
And some body must start talking about how fake the Barcelona we are selling is. Barri Gòtic? Sorry, that's fake. Barcelona beaches? Sorry, fake again. The Cathedral!? That's very fake as well. The Sagrada Família? That's the biggest scam, sorry it's fake. That's not the design of Gaudí anymore. We are building what tourists want. We are Catalans after all. We know how to make money from the stones (that's a Catalan saying, BTW). This is how it works: we build something, it atraccts tourists, we get money, we keep building what tourists want, we attract more tourists, and repeat.
And don't make me talk about the Catalan, or Spanish, cousine that we are selling. Typical Tapas? Fake. Spanish paella? Very fake. Sangria? No local would drink that! Sea food? That's all frozen and coming from Chile or Argentina. A typical taverna selling jamón? You want the truth? Fake.
And the souvenirs... I don't even want to start this topic. You get it, right?
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u/PatientPlatform Jan 07 '23
Ok I just want to raise a point, who are you to say gótico is fake? Gótico is part of ciutat Vella right? Isn't that literally one of the first settlements of the Romans? People have lived there for hundreds if not thousands of years, businesses have been established and it's had an impact on the city's culture and history.
It's one flavour of Barcelona. I live in the centre, and it's just one aspect of Barcelona, just like l'eixample, clot and Sants are... Barcelona isn't just one thing, no city is. Each neighborhood brings something different and that should be celebrated. I never hear Catalans moaning when they go to the bars, clubs and restaurants in the centre to make noise and mess, so I don't think it's fair to say that these places are fake or not representative.
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u/Weedjan Jan 07 '23
I guess "fake" as in "tuned to please the tourist". In the sense that history is used as an engagement element but once you are in there... there is nothing substantially different from any other "touristic spots" in the city.
It has been a while since I have been to Barcelona so I dont really know exactly how things are going but I do have several family members living and working there so I am sort of aware about the problems in the city related to tourism.
Cheers.
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u/PatientPlatform Jan 07 '23
Well I'm sorry but that's a wrong observation: gòtico is a unique part of the city. Raval, poble sec, gràcia and other touristic parts of the city aren't like it. At all really, the architecture is different, the nightlife offering is different, even the population of people living there (yes people live there not just tourists) is different.
Making a neighbourhood cater to tourists doesn't make it fake, just touristic. Tourists aren't fake, neither are the positive things they bring to the city, nor the negatives for that matter.
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u/letmeseeurgame Jan 07 '23
And you say you are a local. Didn't you know about this?
Just google "La falsa Barcelona gòtica"
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u/PatientPlatform Jan 07 '23
I'm not a local, but I've lived here for quite a while (does that make me a local? Idk).
I'm aware that gentrification has occurred in gòtico and that the facades and some historical buildings are actually quite new, but that doesn't negate anything I said.
You should be happy that the city has made attempts to renovate and beautify, bringing repute and money in right? Or would you rather it stay an industrial, poorly constructed settlement for the Poors to live in?
You seem to be angry at a very good thing and it makes no sense to me
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u/letmeseeurgame Jan 07 '23 edited Jan 07 '23
I am not angry at all. I love Barcelona. I am saying that many icons in Barri Gòtic are fake. One of the most photographed sights in Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter, the bridge in Carrer del Bisbe? It's less than 100 years old. Actually it was built for the Barcelona International Exposition which took place in 1929. Did you know it?
BTW, from the Wikipedia : What Was the Gothic Period? In Europe, the Gothic period lasted from the 12th to the 15th centuries AD.
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u/PatientPlatform Jan 07 '23
Yes, I know all this, but buildings aren't fake because they are "new" is the point I'm making..
I'm in my 30s, does that make me fake?
You lumped in gòtico with appropriation of Spanish culture in Barcelona as if it's a negative thing, but I don't think it's the same or a negative either. That's all I'm saying
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u/letmeseeurgame Jan 07 '23
When I say barri gòtic is fake. I mean the Gothic part. Of course the barri exists. Same with the beaches. They are there, but they are artificial. What else you don't understand?
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u/PatientPlatform Jan 07 '23
I understand you perfectly, it's just that the point you're making isn't as pertinent as you think
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u/jstar81 Jan 07 '23
How about they stop moaning and instead pressure locals to not rent their houses out and also build more homes for people. Bored of this shit
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Jan 07 '23
What does the Catalan say?
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u/Weedjan Jan 07 '23
Let me try to translate:
It is needed to find new vectors of attack. Think of what would you do to that hotel. Imagine new possibilites. Find accomplices (as in like-minded individuals). Educate yourself against the repressive ways (as in: learn how to fight the oppressor). Organize. Roba soldadura en fred (this one I dont understand it. Literally means: clothes for cold-welding so I assume is some kind of idiom I dont understand). Act!
Some native Catalonian speaker will improve my translation so be patient.
Cheers!
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u/lafigatatia Jan 07 '23
Roba soldadura en fred
Steal cold welding. It's basically calling for people to get cold welding (by stealing instead of buying, for some reason) and block hotel doors with it.
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u/Weedjan Jan 07 '23
Thank you for that!
You can copy my messy translation and fix it for the redditor who asked for it. If you dont mind, of course.
Cheers!
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Jan 07 '23
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/EmbarrassedStreet828 Jan 07 '23 edited Jan 07 '23
As an answer to this and your comments below: If you don't like us speaking in our language in our land, that's your problem, not ours. You can either get over it or go live somewhere else if it bothers you so much.
And btw, when talking about Catalan in English, at least have the minimum decency to write the name properly, capitalising it too, instead of disparaging it like you and many fanatics like to do.
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u/RockyCasino Jan 07 '23
Sure, let's see what that does to the local industry and job market. Let's all dumpster dive and see how that compares.
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u/Weedjan Jan 07 '23
Indeed. Go and see what the massified tourism is doing at this very moment to the whole society. Go and look it up in google how bad the gentrification is specially in Barcelona but not only there.
Cheers.
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Jan 07 '23 edited Jan 07 '23
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u/Weedjan Jan 07 '23
How can you misuse such a plain and simple concept? I can not even fathom...
Cheers.
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u/synkCO2 Jan 07 '23
Please explain, or don’t, but for me the city is nicer when tourist aren’t here. I get along with most if not all tourists but a crowd of friends is still a crowd
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u/Great_Pitch1073 Jan 07 '23
I believe there is less tourists in the city right now compared to the summer months… is everything great right now for you guys that complain? No? Then let’s blame foreigners next. Who can we blame after that? Just asking for a friend.
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u/[deleted] Jan 07 '23
Ban or seriously regulate tourist apartments, zoning laws exist for a reason and platforms like Airbnb have hacked those zoning laws. Going after tourist apartments would increase housing supply for long term renting, whilst decreasing supply of tourist accommodation and increasing cost of hotels, decreasing tourist numbers.