Bye Bye Barcelona: The Issues With Mass Tourism

The documentary “Bye-Bye Barcelona” covers the issues related to mass tourism in Barcelona, Spain. It touched on many of the issues including the effects of mass tourism on a city’s infrastructure and culture. The film taught me that tourism in Cataluña is a double-edged sword for its citizens. On one side tourism accounts for 12% of Cataluña’s GDP, while on the other hand it threatens the way of life for Barcelona’s 1.6 million inhabitants. From what I drew from the documentary, Barcelonans faced two major concerns as it relates to the influx of tourists visiting every day.

The first issue is one of practicality, in that the small classical city was never designed to house the extremely large number of people visiting its streets every day. This overcrowding has caused major issues for locals, particularly in high volume tourist areas such as the one surrounding the Sagrada Família. The Barcelonans complained that there is no room to walk on the sidewalks, and that prior to 2011 the large number of coach buses parked in the vicinity were hazardous to pedestrians.

The second major issue is the cultural erosion that is occurring due to the rise of tourism over the past few decades. While Barcelona once stood as a proud symbol of Spanish history and culture, tourism dollars flowing in to the city have forced traditional businesses to be replaced with fast food restaurants and tacky souvenir shops. The film shows how many of these restaurants and souvenir stores are not true to Spain’s rich history, with one local claiming that one of the more popular items sold are Mexican sombreros.

This has had a dramatic effect on the people who once claimed Barcelona as their own. They can no longer roam the streets comfortably, or enjoy their traditional meals and shopping in their home town. The rise in tourism has also led to a rise in housing prices which has subsequently driven out most of the younger locals that can no longer afford to live in the city. While tourism accounts for almost $20M in daily revenue for the city and employs over 100,000 people the rising living costs and lack of community raises questions over the sustainability of tourism in the region.

As a student of hospitality and tourism issues like this concern me. Do you feel tourism is negatively impacting your community?

Cheers

Anthony