Barcelona Gets Sick and Tired of Tourism Frenzy

“Gaudi hates you” is one of the comical graffiti that one can witness in Barcelona of late.  It points out the fact that the residents of Barcelona aren’t quite happy these days about living in one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations.

You might be coming to Barcelona because you love Gaudi, but would Gaudi love you?

The well-known Catalan architect might be pretty shocked to see what his graceful city has become with time and as a result of the invasion of modern tourists like the shabby T-shirt stores that crowd every corner; the hundreds of peddlers of those stupid glow-in-the-dark things you flick into the air; the food markets has become a gathering of gawky visitors busy with selfie stick rather than good gourmet shops.

Had Gaudi been here would have hated that. What’s more definite, though, is that few Barcelona’s current residents do.

One can witness that in the graffiti. Besides, stricter laws can be seen trying to curb the expansion of services like Airbnb, an ineffective effort to keep the stag-do crowd out of the suburbs as well as to keep the photo-taking foodies out of the locals-only bars.

Also, one can see it in the faces of the market sellers who have to compete with huge crowds of onlookers who are least interested to buy. No wonder there’s a reaction to everything.