The edition of La Vanguardia in the Valencian Community today offers various contents prepared by the editorial team with the aim of offering the reader a contrasted story about the accelerated changes that Valencia and Alicante are observing. Changes that are having notable effects on the urban landscape and the expulsion of many Valencians and Alicante residents due to the gentrification that is already reaching several neighborhoods in the cities. It seems reasonable to conclude that since the industrial Spanish developmentalism of the 60s, which expelled millions of people from the countryside to emigrate to large cities, our cities had not undergone such a sudden change with such clear consequences.
In the academic and specialized world there is abundant reflection on the phenomenon, not so much on the part of public powers, who seem to want to ignore a reality that has managed to erode social cohesion in cities like Barcelona, ??Amsterdam or Venice; and that is now attacking Valencia and Alicante. The threat of “dying of success” due to mass tourism is real. This week we learned about the case of the Horno de San Nicolás de València, which closes its doors; one more example of how pressure is canceling the props that have been part of our lives to be devoured by big brands or franchises, depersonalizing what for us have been vital landscapes of our lives. And with this, expelling those who ran these businesses.
We are not talking about demonizing tourism, since it is an economic activity that generates many jobs and wealth. What we are talking about is imposing common sense from the Administrations, even more so knowing what mass tourism has caused and is causing in other geographies. Finally, prevent the phenomenon from destroying the urban ecosystem in which we move every day and that we love, and that we do not want to see converted into a simple low-cost theme park. We also know that the solutions are not easy, but letting the sector regulate how our cities should be may end up being the best way to make us feel more and more strangers in our cities.
It is urgent that the city councils of Valencia and Alicante open a sincere and rigorous reflection, that experiences be analyzed and consequences observed, and work be done so that it can be compatible to welcome tourists without ending up damaging the cities and, obviously, aggravating their sustainability. The problem is that there is not much time, the process of gentrification and tourism is being very accelerated. But, either we act firmly or it will soon be too late, and we will end up regretting it very much, like all those Valencians who have already been expelled from the city.
