Last March, in this same column, I published the article Return to La Boqueria, in which I expressed my joy that the iconic market had been reclaimed by the people of Barcelona. Those were times of severe pandemic restrictions and La Boqueria had ceased to be a theme park of juices and fried foods because tourists had disappeared. And one experienced the lost sensation of being able to shop with free aisles through which one could circulate calmly with the cart without the obstacles of continuous selfies at the tiresome pace of a tourist.
Today I again express my joy for the opposite reason, because tourists have returned to La Boqueria, and that is a very good indicator that the economy is recovering. Although the density of visitors is not yet as high as in the pre-covid period, it is true that circulation for local shoppers has become complicated again. Selfies are once again the order of the day.
However, I have observed that the return to juices, especially, is not being as enthusiastic, perhaps because merchants are now aware that they cannot bet everything on tourists, after having experienced the feet of clay of this phenomenon in certain circumstances such as the pandemic. They seem to have taken a step back in this regard.
I have observed that the return to juices, especially, is not being as enthusiastic, perhaps because merchants are now aware that they cannot bet everything on touristsÓscar Ubide, manager of La Boqueria, confirms that the perception that tourism has returned is palpable, and estimates that between September and October the presence of visitors represents around 70% of the pre-pandemic level. It must be taken into account that the Japanese, who are a very important part of Barcelona's tourist market, have not yet arrived due to restrictions at the archipelago's borders.
"Tourists have brought joy and sales," says Ubide, who adds that, during confinement, La Boqueria had been orphaned of customers. And it is that in recent years it has ceased to be a local market. Its customers are no longer from the neighborhood, but tourists and residents from other neighborhoods of Barcelona in search of the quality of some of its products. The latter, during confinement, exchanged La Boqueria for their local markets.
The return of tourists to La Boqueria is, of course, a consequence of the reactivation of the sector in Barcelona as a whole experienced in recent months. According to data from the Observatori del Turisme a Barcelona, up to October 2021, 2.4 million visitors have arrived in the city. Most are tourists from the rest of Spain (800,000), followed by the French (360,000). In third place, but at a considerable distance, are those from the United States (135,000), Germany (122,000), Italy (120,000), Great Britain (85,000) and the Netherlands (82,000).
Now it remains to be seen the impact that the appearance of omicron, the South African variant of the virus, of which little is still known, will have. For the moment, hotels have already begun to experience significant cancellations of reservations motivated by fear of what may come and the closure of some borders.
The return of tourists to La Boqueria is, of course, a consequence of the reactivation of the sector in Barcelona as a whole experienced in recent monthsBut omicron aside, what is evident is that Barcelona has not stopped generating tourist interest, which consolidates the sector as one of the pillars of economic recovery. According to the aforementioned observatory, the profile of the typical tourist at the moment in the Catalan capital is that of a person aged 34.8, residing in the rest of Europe who has traveled as a couple and who has visited the city an average of 4.8 times.
Now we will see how the tourist thermometer of La Boqueria behaves facing the Christmas campaign, very attentive to the next news about the sanitary impact of omicron. The level of selfies per square meter in the market will be a good indicator. We can only cross our fingers.
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