School trips of thirty, forty and even fifty kids each from half of Europe, dozens of foreigners pedaling through the center of the city in a duck squad formation, boys about to get married dressed as Mario Bros., as Snow White, as a character from comics, clearly half asshole, and they with a bunch of pointy dicks as a diadem! also goodbye…
And long queues in front of La Pedrera, the Casa Batlló, the Casa Vicens, the Sagrada FamÃlia, the PollerÃa de la Rambla and its questionable waffles… An elderly American couple photograph a graffiti artist in full action on a street in El Born . Suddenly, in Plaza Catalunya, purple umbrellas spring up everywhere. They are the claims of the tour guides of the free tours. These days outnumber the dreadlocked commercials who insist you end world hunger with a bank transaction.
Lateros, manteros and street vendors of pareos in Barceloneta, the season for sand sculptors has started! He ends when the bathing begins, then the municipal police tell them that they cannot settle there, on the beach. And a lot of people smiling all the time, wanting to have a good time, everywhere. These days Barcelona is up to the flag, much more than during the previous Holy Week, so much so that these holidays already herald a summer season like the ones before, like the ones before the pandemic, and one does not know how to take it…
Manel Casals, director of the Gremi d’Hotels de Barcelona, ​​points out that the hotel occupancy level will be around 87% these days, a couple of points more than that registered a year ago. “Recovery is a fact. The Barcelona brand is very competitiveâ€. Enrique Alcántara, from Apartur, the entity that groups legal tourist apartments, says that they are also close to full.
And numerous cash registers jingle these days with a joy typical of bygone times. These people who visit us these days are spending more money than those who took advantage of those great last-minute offers so typical of the pandemic. And on the other side of the counters, the self-employed, entrepreneurs and businessmen hopefully hope to mitigate all those debts acquired to simply survive during the hardest times of the pandemic. And your employees also breathe easier. Many residents of Barcelona live off all this hustle and bustle so full of contrasts. What happens is that…
Do you know that the tourist rental became analog? Seeing the price movements in supermarkets, being paid a thousand euros to lend your flat for three days is a pornographic temptation. You go those days to your parents’ house. The keys are that municipal inspectors do not find clues on the internet, not to advertise on any digital platform dedicated to vacation rentals and to resort to word of mouth and the contacts that you could ever make.
Meanwhile, the thieves are stationed at the door of the grocery stores, especially those of the Raval, where people of all walks of life go for cans of beer and bags of chips. So they take advantage of the crowds and squat behind their victim’s back and… They are able to disconnect the cable from the headphones and step on your phone in a single gesture, even if you carry it in the front pocket of your pants! If only we could take advantage of such talent for the benefit of humanity…
“Suddenly you can’t walk down the street, you have to avoid the groups,†says Martà Cusó, from the neighborhood association of the Gòtic neighborhood, “and on top of that the noise accompanies you, it doesn’t stop growing, day and night. These days you have the feeling that everything is back to the way it was before, that Barcelona wasted the opportunity to rethink many things. Didn’t they say that the pandemic gave us the chance to diversify economic activity and reconsider our city model? Well, the administrations did nothing. We are back as usual. Here, in the Gòtic, we have no problem finding a burrito to take away, but when you’re looking for a hardware store…â€.
And at the other end of the city, in the Carmel neighborhood, in recent weeks there have been protests by residents fed up with the overcrowding of the Turó de la Rovira viewpoint and the illegal parties that a few foreigners organize in the bunkers of the place . “This tourist invasion is making our lives bitter,†these neighbors say, very fed up. During the day we suffered mobility problems. The buses go to the top. The accesses are not prepared for such an influx. And at night of incivility, because they shout under our windows, they leave everything disgusting, they pee in the gardens of the houses, they insult us if we call their attention… and is all this going to get worse? What happens is that…
Ãlvaro Llaras, from Onix, with three hotels in the center and a youth hostel in Vila OlÃmpica, details that these days they are practically full. “But the most important thing is that the public is changing. Last year many came attracted by last minute offers. Fate mattered little to them. His motivation was to go on a spree. But this year reservations are being made more in advance, several weeks. And the prices are higher. In 2021 we closed the youth hostel because the bed was ten euros a night, and the people who came, well… But now they are paying between 35 and 40, like in Primavera Sound, and they are something else, really. .. And in hotels we have gone from 70, 80, 90 euros last year to 140 this weekend. For the first time in a long time we are happyâ€.
“The speed with which Barcelona is recovering its visitors is magnificent news,†says Roger Pallarols, director of the Gremi de Restauració. Barcelona is establishing itself as the most international city in Spain. Your brand is in very good health. Visitors are coming who are very willing to spend with joy. And this jump compared to last year is allowing us to draw a fundamental turning point. The average bill for bars and restaurants does nothing but increase. Businesses are finally beginning to reduce the debts they accumulated with the restrictions. But the public administrations have to guarantee the cleanliness, order and safety of the cityâ€.
