European city doubles down in war against tourists as it's 'turning into a theme park'
Barcelona is ‘turning into a theme park' due to a surge in tourism.
A Spanish city where angry locals fired water pistols at tourists is ‘turning into a theme park’ due to an influx of over tourism.
Barcelona is doubling down in a war against tourists, those visiting the Spanish city are currently hit with two taxes - a regional charge and a city tax. The city tax is set to rise from £2.74, having already been increased last year.
Soon visitors will have to spend £3.37 a day on an overnight charge for up to a week's stay, starting in October.
The city has said the additional intake will be used to improve services such as buses, roads and escalators.
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And now Mayor Jaume Collboni has said “everything has a limit”, according to The Independent.
He said: “If you have a theatre with a 300-seat capacity, you cannot sell 500 (tickets) even if you have 200 people queuing. Everything has a limit.
“Tourism needs to be serving the city’s model, not the opposite. That’s what we are doing in Barcelona.”
Mr Collboni also said he would be targeting the licences for more than 10,000 apartments currently on short-term lets in the city, with a full ban on tourist flats by 2028.
It comes after thousands of locals took to the streets earlier this month to speak out about the pressures on housing they believe are caused by over tourism in the coastal city.
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Collboni called the water-spraying protest “absolutely reprehensible” and not representing Barcelona’s spirit, arguing that all tourists were welcome and the protests should not scare off visitors.
Signs reading "Tourists go home," and "Barcelona is not for sale," were on display as residents marched through local tourist hotspots. A few protesters used water guns to spray tourists amid growing rallies against mass tourism in Spain.
The protestors also placed cordon tape around restaurants, with some of the visitors eating outside deciding to shout back at demonstrators.
Over the past decade the cost of housing in Spain has rocketed by 68 per cent, as Barcelona sees a rise in tourist rentals.
Rent in Barcelona is more expensive than ever, according to El Pais. In the third quarter of last year, an apartment in the city was found to cost around €1,171 per month, on average.
