The truth is Europe as a continent has been at the forefront of criticism concerning over-tourism for a while now. Reports of an influx of visitors overflowing many of these countries’ capabilities to hold them and serve them without damaging the local environment and the quality of life of the residents has been a common complaint for some time. While this has been true to many of Europe’s countries, it has found a dangerous inflection point in the city of Barcelona, where you can find out about the rising tensions between local residents and incoming tourists, where the former complains about the latter overflowing the city to a breaking point. More people come into the city of Barcelona at any given day than they leave, which leaves its capacity to hold them almost explode at the seams.
There is no denying the appeal of Barcelona as a city of tourism. As the largest port in the Mediterranean Sea and one of the world’s most successful business travel places with its booming economy and growing investments, the city is ripe with opportunities for a great visit. But while all of that is good and all, the fact that it’s overflowing with tourists starts hurting the city itself and overtime can start affecting the growth the city has worked so hard to establish over the last few years. We mentioned before how the city has become a centerpiece for self-starting business entrepreneurs, and that wouldn’t have been made possible without the strides the city had made.
The tourism industry is a great attractor towards the city, but a lot of regulations and new approaches have to be taken into account before the same visitors that make the city a vibrant place to be start making it a city not worth visiting. Whether it is regulating places to stay and availability of lodging and keeping a strict control of that, something needs to be done in the city of Barcelona to keep its prestige up as a great place to visit. What’s happening at the moment can only serve to undermine the great city that Barcelona is.
