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2025-05-04 00:00:00.0 欧洲新闻电视台-欧洲新闻原网页

Before visiting Barcelona in March, I’d read the headlines with a healthy mix of scepticism and concern.

Tourists sprayed with water guns. Locals shout: ‘Tourists go home!’ More protests planned.

They painted the picture of a people fed up with the economy of coming and going. And there was no escaping it: my presence could contribute to the problem. I was travelling to run the city’s marathon – one of its biggest international events – and wondered if I’d picked the wrong time.

As is so often the case, the reality was more nuanced.

Big events bring big money – but also big crowds

International marathons are big business. According to its title sponsor, Bank of America, the 2022 Chicago Marathon generated about €340 million, created almost 3,000 jobs and pumped €145 million into the local economy.

Barcelona’s marathon isn’t quite on that scale, but still 27,000 people signed up for the March race – 7,000 more than ever before.

That’s roughly the number nine cruise ships would carry at full capacity, all descending on the city for one morning of hard work and one night of celebratory cava and vermút.

Would the city bristle at yet another influx of visitors eager to get lost in the Gothic Quarter, marvel at Gaudí’s masterpieces and feast their way through the mercats?

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Not at all. I wasn’t met with water guns – although they would’ve been welcome at points along the 42-kilometre course – but with cries of encouragement.

Thousands of locals lined the streets. The energy was electric. The city felt proud.

None of this was a surprise. Marathons have yet to become targets for anti-tourism protestors, even if ‘race-cations’ are on the rise.

Still, the tension is real, and the impacts of overcrowding aren’t hard to find.

Why some locals are reaching their limit

Barcelona is one of Europe’s most visited cities. More than 12 million people visit each year, and about five million make a beeline for Park Güell and Sagrada Família alone. The pressure on these places – and on the people who live nearby – is immense.

Yet tourism accounts for more than 125,000 jobs and nearly 15 per cent of the city’s economy.

For many locals, this isn’t about banning tourists. It’s about finding a sustainable balance.

“Barcelona is a much calmer, safer and more welcoming city than what is reported, but sometimes we pay more attention to isolated events that make a lot of noise,” says Jordi Luque Sanz, a Barcelona native, food writer and senior culinary attaché at Bon Vivant Communications, a firm that manages chefs and high-end restaurants around the world.

Crowds gather at Park Guell. Dorian/Unsplash

“Having said that, I will not deny that tourism has grown enormously in recent years, that we lack an adequate model because no government has been interested in developing one seriously and that some areas are very overcrowded.”

During my trip, checklist destinations like La Rambla and Sagrada Família were packed, despite grey, wet and unpredictable weather. At one restaurant, I watched as a waiter – with the patience of a saint – repeatedly turned away diners who had ignored a “reservations only” sign and barged in to ask for a table, always in English.

At Park Güell, confused visitors, unaware they needed to book tickets online, met with exasperated workers. There, I overheard one staff member exclaim to a Spanish-speaking couple: “What a miracle to hear people speaking Spanish in this place!”

Cruise ships and short-term lets are under scrutiny

Much of the strain stems from how people visit the city.

Among the biggest flashpoints are short-term rentals and cruise ship tourism. Many apartments have been converted into Airbnbs, pricing out locals and turning once-quiet streets into party zones.

“Here we don’t have ‘suburbia,’” says Ann-Marie Brannigan, an Irish expat and co-founder of Runner Bean Tours who has lived in Barcelona for almost 20 years. “Some people don’t know much about neighbourhood or flat living. It took me years to get used to it.”

She says that many tourists will often sit out on balconies or terraces, drinking and talking long after midnight – a taboo in Barcelona communities.

Ann-Marie Dunnigan of Runner Bean Tours says it's important to respect community living. www.runnerbeantours.com

“If you want to have fun and party, you should go out to zones where there are clubs,” she advises.

Meanwhile, cruise ships unload thousands of day-trippers who rarely stay long enough to contribute meaningfully to the local economy.

Last May, Barcelona’s mayor, Jaume Collboni, warned that the volume of short-term travellers was overwhelming popular areas and crowding public transport. “We are reaching a limit, and we need to put a cap [on one-day visitors],” he said.

The cultural toll is just as concerning.

Longtime residents are watching their city change as historic bars, restaurants and neighbourhood markets are rebranded to suit the tastes of a transient crowd, and chintzy shops now occupy historic buildings in El Born and the Gothic Quarter.

What travellers can do differently

Beyond the big-name attractions, though, a less saturated and more rewarding Barcelona still exists.

The Recinte Modernista de Sant Pau offers a remarkable look at Barcelona’s modernist movement with a fraction of the crowds of Sagrada Família just down the road.

Small coffee shops like Dalston and Sip pair locally roasted beans with friendly service.

Less-frequented venues like the historic Mercat de Sant Antoni and pintxo favourite Quimtet & Quimtet – standing tables only – offer antidotes to overcrowded hotspots.

These are the kinds of experiences experts like Luque suggest seeking out.

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“The great monuments – La Sagrada Família, Casa Batlló, the Picasso Museum – are fabulous, but it’s worth trying to get to know other places, such as the neighbourhoods of Poble Nou or Sants, where everything is much more real,” he says.

Luque recommends local markets like Mercat del Ninot and Mercat de Galvany over the packed Boqueria and encourages travellers to explore quieter corners of Eixample, “not just along and around Paseo de Gracia, which is a wonderful street but too crowded.”

Dunnigan suggests places like Montju？c and Glòries if you want to see more local – and overlooked – sides of the city. “The cemetery in Montju？c is absolutely beautiful, and no one goes there,” she says, highlighting the Art Nouveau-style mausoleums built by the city’s bourgeois for their loved ones around the turn of the 20th century.

The Encants market is a gem for fans of architecture and design. Thomas Lendt/WikiCommons

Glòries, she adds, offers a window into the city’s modern architecture, including landmarks like the excellent Design Museum of Barcelona and Encants Market.

And she encourages visiting community festivals instead of just big ones like La Mercè.

“Every neighbourhood has two a year, with food and sardanas (traditional music dancing),” says Brannigan. “They’ll give you a much more local feel.”

It also helps to know – and follow – local etiquette. Luque has a few suggestions.

Don’t go shirtless, he says. Avoid rowdy antics in residential neighbourhoods. Drinking in the street? Not allowed. And learn a few Catalan or Spanish phrases. “A ‘gràcies’ for thank you or ‘hola’ for hello always helps and a smile opens many doors,” he says.

Is Barcelona at a crossroads?

At a recent summit in the city, protestor Elena Boschi made a pointed declaration to the media members in attendance: “We want tourists to have some level of fear about the situation – without fear, there is no change.”

Her words underline the growing tension between a city that depends on tourism yet struggles to manage its impact – a tension that’s evident to anyone visiting the city.

With protestors planning Europe-wide disruptions on 15 June – across Barcelona, Venice, Lisbon and beyond – the atmosphere is more volatile than ever. But it’s also clear that Barcelona isn’t vehemently anti-tourist. It’s simply asking for a different kind of tourist: one who comes with curiosity and listens as much as they look.

Ioana had never travelled alone before the age of 31 because she was too afraid of what people would think.

But a solo trip to Paris for her 31st birthday was transformative.

“The important people in my life were all very supportive, and the Parisians couldn't care less that I was eating in restaurants alone or walking along the Seine by myself,” she says.

“This experience helped reduce my anxiety and taught me that I should not let other people's opinions interfere with how I live my life.”

While solo travel is often perceived as daunting, it can be an unexpectedly powerful form of stress relief, according to Dr Ravi Gill, a chartered psychologist with over 15 years in mental healthcare.

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“Solo travel offers profound psychological benefits, helping individuals overcome anxiety, build self-trust, and experience true autonomy,” he says.

‘You realise there’s nothing you can’t do’

Data analysis by Emerald Cruises predicts that solo travel is set to skyrocket, with Google Trends data showing a staggering 5,000 per cent increase in searches for “best places to travel solo” and “solo travel tours” in March alone.

The cruise company, whose itineraries include trips dedicated to single passengers, surveyed 500 Brits about their experiences of travelling alone.

Nearly half of the respondents said that solo trips boosted their confidence and decision-making skills - something Romanian-born Ioana also emphasises on her solo travel blog.

“I think solo travel is very empowering because you need to do everything yourself,” she says.

“Once you navigate a new city, problem solve how to deal with flight delays, or order food in a foreign language successfully, you realise there is nothing you can't do.”

Maddie Quammen is a travelling content creator from the US. Maddie Quammen

Maddie Quammen is a travelling content creator from the US. She describes solo travel as “like a mirror and a reset button all at once”.

“It pulls you out of your comfort zone, and in doing so, helps you get really clear on who you are and what you actually want,” she says.

“I think we’re living in a time where comfort is the default, and too much of it can lead to anxiety, numbness, and disconnection. When you’re solo on the road, you’re constantly being tested. But in those moments, you realise just how strong, adaptable, and resourceful you really are.”

‘Solo trips showed me I can change my reality’

For many travellers, embarking on a solo trip becomes a journey of self-discovery, or as Gill puts it, “replacing a fixed mindset with a growth mindset.”

In the survey by Emerald Cruises, 32 per cent of respondents said they see travelling alone as a way to learn more about themselves.

For Ioana, solo travel was a wake-up call about her work-life balance.

“I used to work in corporate, and I was miserable because my job was not fulfilling, and I didn't have the time freedom I was craving,” she says.

“After I took a few solo trips, I became more confident and I realised that I am in control of my own life and I can change my reality.”

Ioana in Barcelona. Ioana (thesolotravelinstyleblog)

Ioana began writing a solo travel blog and left the corporate world last year to dedicate her time to travelling and sharing her experiences.

“Solo travel is not just about seeing the world; it’s about discovering who you are when no one else is shaping your choices," says Gill.

‘Healing often sneaks up on you in motion’

Maddie’s experience has also been an odyssey of self-growth. She and her ex broke up during a trip abroad, and she found herself “completely alone on the other side of the world”.

“I felt like I lost my favourite person, and had no idea who I was without them. But solo travel didn’t let me stay stuck. I had to keep going. I had to rely on myself - and strangers,” she says.

“There are kind, beautiful humans everywhere, and if you stay open, you’ll find them. That was one of the most healing parts for me - learning I wasn’t as alone as I thought.”

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Maddie has continued to travel full-time and uses her Instagram account to share frank realities about getting over a break-up while on the road alone.

“I was once crying in a bunk bed over my ex, thinking I made the biggest mistake of my life. Two days later, I was riding through rice fields in Vietnam, full of peace and joy,” she says.

“That contrast reminded me that pain isn’t permanent, and healing often sneaks up on you in motion.”

For Maddie, solo travel hasn’t just shown her she can handle whatever is thrown at her, but that she can thrive.

“It’s hard to spiral when you’re watching the sunrise over a mountain you just climbed,” she says.

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