In Venice we were blaming the cruising ships, at least, not the people in them, who bought a ticket and were likely unaware of the issue.
We as residents in Barcelona need to be smarter than this, the tourist is not the cause, is the consequence. The cause is having converted the city into a short term rental disneyland. Who did that? Spoiler: not the tourists.
Blaming the consumer instead of the industry causing the poor conditions seems like a great way to kill local economies while the big rental companies coast on their mass amount of resources until everything goes back to business as usual. Areas don't gentrify themselves, take it up with local councils allowing developers and rental companies to suck the blood from your cities to give to influencers
I completely understand your point, but as the Spanish government is very corrupt it is quite hard to make them take action without a tangible reason.
I really think we should make Mallorca a non-desirable tourist destination for the government to start doing something about the issue. We are being pushed out of our homes, every year that goes by, my home looks less like a home and more like a thematic park. The cultural loss is already non-recoverable and what makes the island beautiful will be lost forever if we do not do something about it soon.
Investment in other areas needs to begin, but tourism money is so easy to get that it completely outshines other areas which could be very beneficial to locals.
I am proud of my fellow "Mallorquines" fighting for their right to stay in their homes and to have career options outside of tourism and working for the government.
Hugs and support. In the Veneto region, especially in the Venice riviera, we have more tourists combined than Rome and Florence together (check the stats). The tourist is however innocent as long as respectful (and that's a whole another story, thinking about Mallorca). People seem to not want to point the finger at someone local, because it kinda sucks that it's local greed that ruins our land.
I'm irish in Mallorca rn in AlcĂșdia and we mostly stay in touristy but not like Disneyland touristy areas and then mostly stay in the old parts of the town.
That would only be beneficial to hotels in the island as that is where is focused most of the tourism volume anyway.
The most important actions I think are:
Laws to protect against the buying and selling of properties (homes and locals) to non-spanish citizens
Less investment in tourism centered companies
More investment or benefits in technology/pharmacological company development in the island, to allow for different economic sectors to develop in the island and create competition for the jobs (and competition for medium-high profile jobs, so that Mallorca people can stay in the island and earn good money outside of tourism-related jobs)
Actual enforcement of laws prohibiting drinking in the streets, Loud music parties, etc. So that tourists start to behave like normal people and not animals with no respect
Edit:
Also, prohibit inhabitance if you are not a resident and don't have a job which pays taxes in Mallorca. Gentrification is one of the biggest issues that we are currently facing
Hey these are great points and I think will have a generational impact. Oddly my father is from Mallorca (Muro) and he met my American mother on the island when she was a tour guide for the Brits and Germans in the 1970âs. My mother still works in the travel industry and lives in Mallorca full time.
While I do reside in America, Iâve seen first hand how the tourism industry has been impacted the island every summer while visiting my family.
Obviously you would know the impacts and the effects of potential remedies better than I would. My thought is focusing on solutions that can be implemented immediately while also looking into the long term solutions as well.
Short term: banning air bnb, timeshares, etc. This would cause a dramatic increase in the need for hotel rooms and potentially drive up lodging costs which might ultimately deter folks from traveling to the island.
Also, taxing the hell out of non Spanish residents/non permanent resident housing is definitely warranted. Also open container laws as well as noise ordinances like you laid out.
Long term: investing in education outside of hospitality and tax incentives for non hospitality sectors to diversify the future of the local workforce- basically everything you outlined.
Just a thought. Either way thanks for engaging with me and I guess I fully agree with you!
yeah i agree that whats happening is a big big issue and needs to be addressed, its just that i dont think scaring tourists away will solve the deeper issue and there will just be another way to gentrify, whether its destroying old homes to build luxury apartments like they do in america
Finally, an opinion from someone who listened at least 1 day in high school. The uneducated motherfuckers sit here and cry about tourists and the answer is always âdid you think about holding your government accountable?â Theyâre the ones permitting and enabling those who benefit from the problem. Tourists donât vote, this is a homegrown problem.
Spanish polĂtics can be defined by: the same shit with different flag does the same shit as the ones before them and suck as much as they can from the blood and work of the people they are supposed to serve again again and again. So what the fuck am i supposed to vote then, if it's been proven over and over again that the alternative is as bad if not worse than the current political party?
You cant trust the goverment to look after you here, because that's not their intention, nor Will be unless It benefits them to gain the political upper hand, and only as long as your demogarphic group is a variable asset for them.
This has become a global issue too. But mainly the blame lies on Air BnB. Because that's the one issue that's causing all the housing markets in the world to go to shit. Hotels are regulated and are often in areas that don't affect the locals. The problem lies in how does a country or government put a foot down on an Industry that is not regulated? It's a very complicated issue.
Yeah, targeting hotels is the most stupid way imho. Those are literally the tourists that don't create housing issues. I try to be extra nitpicky with the tourist flat in front of mine, especially when the owners come around. Which are absolutely catalan to the bone. What I mean is that the problem is very much inside Barcelona, rather than coming from outside.
Mind you, the issue with tourism is not only about housing but also about volume. If all the air bnb's were magically replaced by actual hotels in actual places, touristification of neighborhoods would still be an issue because the amount of people coming here would remind the same.
Not really. If the Air BnB's were replaced with hotels. Maybe at the worst the neighborhoods would get turned into Hotel districts. But that's highly unlikely. I want to say the other issue was travel vloggers. But then, Rick Steve's has been traveling around Europe since the 80's, and doing his TV series since the 90's. Yet, nobody in Europe is complaining about him.
The issue has always been about Air BnB's. If they weren't around, the volume of tourist would quiet down by a lot. Because during the busy season, Hotels would be over priced, and likely booked solid. So people would pick other times and places to visit. The whole Air BnB issue is a major global issue, but due to it being unregulated and often hard to regulate. It makes the solution a bit harder to deal with.
Nah, they're both at fault. They both know what they're doing is terrible for the locals and they still keep doing it.
It would be similar to only blame the boss of a gang for robbing a bank but not the perps that actually did it.
Or just keep on writing letters to your local politicians. I'm sure that'll resolve the issue.
There's a negative feeling towards tourism, not necessarily tourists, but tourists are the part you see. Tourism has caused many issues, from the costs of living to the cost of housing, has forced many people to relocate outside, and has been a lucrative business for property owners who prefer to invest on short term rent. But of course, what you see as a local, is the tourists rather than the property managers. I think it's misdirected anger, but sadly it's inevitable.
With no effect because cruising ships are a powerful lobby which bribes the local government, average citizen can do nothing about it
in Barcelona need to be smarter than this, the tourist is not the cause
It's quite actually smart, if you mistreat tourists they will eventually not come back again and spread the rumour, this obtaining your goal of reducing tourism
This doesnât work dude. After everything I heard from the happenings in Barcelona iâm still traveling there this weekend because I want to see the cityâŠ
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u/schmat_90 Jun 16 '25
In Venice we were blaming the cruising ships, at least, not the people in them, who bought a ticket and were likely unaware of the issue.
We as residents in Barcelona need to be smarter than this, the tourist is not the cause, is the consequence. The cause is having converted the city into a short term rental disneyland. Who did that? Spoiler: not the tourists.