"As a resident of the Sagrada Família, don't tourists bother you?" I've been asked this question often and I always end up answering that the ones who bother me are the people who are bothered by tourists. Evidently, I advocate for the city for Barcelonans, and that we can live at a reasonable price, and that there isn't too much degradation in the environment, but the ones who bother me are not the tourists but the Barcelonans who can't stand tourists. Especially if they are residents of the Sagrada Família, these especially, because I am one and I know what it's like. I tell them not to pay attention to any neighbor in the neighborhood who complains about tourists: it's surely someone I know, and I guarantee they have nothing to complain about. Give me their name, seriously. Let's see if they have the courage to explain it to me.
And nothing happens. There's no bother, I'm serious. No matter what the "Neighborhood Association" says, they represent absolutely no one except the Núñez y Navarro block lobby that must be demolished to finish the temple. But in this neighborhood, you don't have to penetrate any queue of foreigners, nor do you find thousands of coaches parked on the corners, nor are you constantly stopped to be asked for directions, nor does any smell of sweat mixed with sunscreen reach you from the balcony. The only thing I can complain about is that, at eleven in the morning, the terraces on Gaudí Avenue already consider that you can't have coffee but only food. And, even so, those of us who have been neighbors for years are already recognized and an exception is made for us. Therefore, by the way, tell that acquaintance from before, the one who complained, that you just have to be somewhat friendly with the waiters.
It doesn't bother me at all to host thousands of visitors in a temple that was here before me, and that will be here after me, just as the residents of the Eiffel Tower will understand that many people will come to admire the thing. It must be said that, in summer, I consider it natural and good that there are people in beautiful places: for now, there is still enough space for everyone here. This is without mentioning that precisely this temple must be finished through donations and sold tickets, and not through taxes. Therefore no, sirs, tourists don't bother me: the question bothers me.
In this neighborhood, you don't have to penetrate through any queue of tourists, nor do you find thousands of coaches parked on the street corners, nor are you constantly stopped to be asked for directions, nor does any smell of sweat mixed with sunscreen reach you from the balcony.As opportune as ever, the mayor wanted to reflect on the limitation of cruises. It's an interesting debate, if you don't do it at the doorstep of summer. Who would think of it, I mean. All restaurateurs and hoteliers are expectant to compensate for the two disastrous years of the pandemic, and in June we start to address the need to limit cruises to see if that scares off shipping companies and travel agencies. Let's debate it one day, agreed: but then we must know that, of all the maritime traffic in the port (and the pollution that may derive), cruises represent a more than minimal percentage. And that, if what we really want to address is not pollution but the aversion to tourists (because we already know about painting the desire to degrow green), let's do it with figures and comparing them, for example, with those who arrive by plane. These, curiously, do not want to be limited. Nor do the airlines. It must be that the ozone layer is under the sea.
Of course, let's assume it: the lifelong Barcelonian has become a minority. This is indeed a fact worthy of urgent management. For years now, the population coming from outside (the most problematic ones we call immigrants and the coolest ones we call expats) already outnumbers residents born in the city. This means that they can decide, and vote, and if they want a showcase city, they will demand a showcase city. In other words, the Quatre Gats would no longer be possible today because Picasso or Casas would never go to change the history of art in a bar exclusively dedicated to being tagged on Instagram (#4gats, #nofilters, #lovethiscity). It's no longer about whether tourists bother or not, which I've already made clear they don't, but about having a piece of the city reserved or thought for those who live there every day. What Fran Lebovitz would claim by saying "pretend it's a city": let's pretend it's a city, and not an amusement park.
The Quatre Gats would no longer be possible today because Picasso or Casas would never go to change the history of art in a bar exclusively dedicated to being tagged on Instagram (#4gats, #nofilters, #lovethiscity)Solve the problem of housing prices (the great default), find solutions to the problem of public transport throughout the metropolitan area (not based on hating cars and hating motorcyclists to death), prevent emblematic or historic establishments from closing, ensure that native festivals do not leave (or are not denatured), avoid whims in the form of poorly located trams or superblocks, humanize 22@, eliminate excessive bureaucracies or, above all, facilitate the existence of large cafes in the city. Because this is the other thing: where have the large cafes gone? Why do I have to go to hotel lobbies? Where are the Quatre Gats of our century? Where is, in fact, all the attitude that the Modernists had, but above all and focusing on the topic, where have the good cafes gone? Those where you can spend hours talking, or reading, or enjoying the surroundings?In summary: the problem is not tourism, the problem is the Starbucks model.That stays and expands during the winter. And the thing is that it's one thing for the tourist to take fromsouvenira bullfighter made oftrencadísof Gaudí, that will be their problem; but it's another thing that, of the Barcelona aimed at the daily life of the natives, soon only its memory will remain. ThesouvenirFrom forgetting who you are so much, you have become the tourist.