Barcelona Tourists

[MissSophia]

On our national news this morning it was reported from Barcelona that tourists are being targeted by anti tourist protesters who are spraying folk with water guns both on the streets and in restaurants.

As quite a lot of SS cruises begin/end/call at this port thought it worth mentioning.

 

Sophia 😊

 

[UKCruiseJeff]

Seems to be happening in several places now.

 

Jeff

[MissSophia]

18 minutes ago, UKCruiseJeff said:

Seems to be happening in several places now.

 

Jeff

Jeff, it did also mention Majorca and Malaga but the worst is apparently Barcelona 😊

[lincslady]

Sadly it has not been much fun going round lovely Barcelona for a few years; far too many tourists and of course quite a lot are from the cruise ships, mainly just wandering around and not spending anything in the town.  I see they would like the number of ships to come down, understandably.  Always a few really big ships docked there now, every day.

[Catlover54]

 

 

4 hours ago, lincslady said:

Sadly it has not been much fun going round lovely Barcelona for a few years; far too many tourists and of course quite a lot are from the cruise ships, mainly just wandering around and not spending anything in the town.  I see they would like the number of ships to come down, understandably.  Always a few really big ships docked there now, every day.

 

According to this article in 2023, 4.1% of Barcelona visitors are from cruise ships.  Is that "quite a lot", compared with the other 95.9%?  

Also according to this article cruise ship pax are more likely to be, on average, older,  and spend more per person per day while in Barcelona.

Cruise ship pax also often stay before/after in Barcelona if the cruise starts or ends there, as part of that spending.

 

https://www.catalannews.com/society-science/item/cruise-ship-passengers-account-for-4-of-barcelona-visitors-study-estimates

 

Recently a Wall Street Journal article discussed the fact that as a result of growing relative affluence in the world, there are millions of new "middle class" emerging from many places where people used to just stay home and vacation (if they even had one) locally, because they could not afford to spend on such luxuries. They  are now keen on traveling. 

 

Most of the new "middle class"  fly to their destinations, including Barcelona, and they do not come by cruise.  Certainly their presence might in some cases make it "less fun going round lovely Barcelona" for those who had previously been used to less crowding, emptier streets,  and a greater sense of exclusivity, and the same is true for locals who are so well-situated that they don't care about the revenue tourists generate for businesses and the local treasury.

 

I don't like oppressive crowds either, neither at home nor places I travel to.  Currently  I live in a beautiful  part of California which explodes with tourists in summer, and as a local, it is often not fun dealing with increases in traffic and noise. But I know people who support their families from visitors are very happy to see those tourists come, and I don't want to  take any measures to prevent them from visiting (other than setting certain common sense behavioral limits). Sometimes the best thing to do to avoid local seasonal crowds  is to travel somewhere else. 🙂

 

[lincslady]

Thanks for that - I must admit that obviously I did not know any statistics on the subject.  Just noticed the groups coming off shuttle buses and walking rather aimlessly up the Ramblas, many more in the past few years since the cruise docks became so much larger.  I stand corrected.

[Port Power]

37 minutes ago, lincslady said:

Thanks for that - I must admit that obviously I did not know any statistics on the subject.  Just noticed the groups coming off shuttle buses and walking rather aimlessly up the Ramblas, many more in the past few years since the cruise docks became so much larger.  I stand corrected.

I would suggest that more cruise passengers would head to Las Ramblas, whereas fly-in tourists, and especially those driving cars, would spread out into other areas and the countryside.

[lincslady]

Just another thought - these days a lot of stag and hen parties from the UK go abroad for a few drunken days in cities like Prague ,Budapest and Barcelona.  They must be about the most undesirable tourists in the world, except perhaps for football supporters. 

[fdnycruiser]

Very true, and I believe Mallorca is like Miami during spring break 

[QueSeraSera]

4 hours ago, lincslady said:

a lot of stag and hen parties from the UK go abroad for a few drunken days in cities like Prague ,Budapest and Barcelona

Sad to read this.

Something missing from their lives, and I think they are looking in the wrong places to fill the void.

How can anyone not respect such cities, with their proud histories?

If you can't do something in your hometown, or the town next door, maybe you just shouldn't do it.

 

[commodoredave]

One travel writer in The Telegraph suggested people travel to hotspots like Barcelona, Venice, the English Lake District, etc. outside of the peak summer season when these places are the most crowded. Not an option for parents with kids in school, but it is for others. Personally, we try not to travel anywhere in peak season.

[Catlover54]

3 hours ago, commodoredave said:

One travel writer in The Telegraph suggested people travel to hotspots like Barcelona, Venice, the English Lake District, etc. outside of the peak summer season when these places are the most crowded. Not an option for parents with kids in school, but it is for others. Personally, we try not to travel anywhere in peak season.

 

Same here, as best possible -- though too many others have also gotten the same idea and some nonpeak but tolerable months in many places (in terms of weather) are now also crowded.  I've seen some hauntingly beautiful pictures of Venice and Santorini in winter, where I've been a couple times in the past, but always when there were too many tourists for my taste, and it is tempting (as long as one could find a decent hotel and restaurant).   

We are actually heading to the Lake District and Cotswalds this year late September for a driving trip  (first time for both of us in those areas), but when we tried to book our desired hotel rooms several months ago, thinking we were planning in advance, many were already booked up as that isn't late enough to avoid crowds.

 

Last year we did a land tour of Ireland in April, before a  cruise, and the bigger cities were perfect (not crowded) , and we got lucky with weather. But in some of the rural areas it was hard to find a place that was open when we wanted to rest and eat. A friend of ours who hates crowds and is a big art fan did a small group boutique land tour of Italy in April and was very disappointed because it was packed (he thought April would avoid crowds).

 

It's  also a bit challenging for some of us to go to cold places like Iceland or Alaska in March (no comfortable cruises, hard to drive, my aches and pains from prior injuries flare up, and many hotels and places to eat aren't even open except a few in the bigger cities). We thought about doing a "northern lights" cruise to Norway in January or February, which Viking does, but when we realized there would only be 5 hours of light each day --  and landed up by chance seeing such  lights in front of our comfortable home -- we nixed that idea.  Also, a couple years ago, Viking  had to evacuate one of their ships during a storm when for various reasons an engine failed -- including evacuation of some of their pax by helo (I love helo trips, but not in a storm where boarding involves a harness).  There is a good reason that most northerners go *south* to vacation  in the winter.

 

Of course this is thread drift, but that is one of the joys of CC 🙂

 

 

[ronrick1943]

It's sad to see this happen with what tourist spend.  But it's only water--other areas it's much more dangerous in other areas for tourists.

[MissSophia]

I think one has to be careful wherever we go these days….l love Majorca but wouldn’t entertain Magaluf….l wouldn’t entertain Benidorm either but some of the surrounding villages are beautiful…

If one avoids Ramblas in Barcelona other parts are lovely, much quieter and less touristy.

I tend to travel in April and late September…only problem can be the low cost flights from here in the UK can be full of the stag and hen parties which can be a challenge to start with! 
😊
 

[DavyWavey70]

1 hour ago, MissSophia said:

I think one has to be careful wherever we go these days….l love Majorca but wouldn’t entertain Magaluf….l wouldn’t entertain Benidorm either but some of the surrounding villages are beautiful…

If one avoids Ramblas in Barcelona other parts are lovely, much quieter and less touristy.

I tend to travel in April and late September…only problem can be the low cost flights from here in the UK can be full of the stag and hen parties which can be a challenge to start with! 
😊
 

I Much prefer to stay in Sitges and just take the train into Barcelona for a days sightseeing. The URH is lovely. This was the view from our balcony.

 

 

Edited July 13 by DavyWavey70

[lincslady]

We all need to bear in mind that the 'middle class' population of the world has gone up a lot in recent years, along of course with all the others, therefore a lot more folk with the money and desire to travel.

[highplanesdrifters]

43 minutes ago, DavyWavey70 said:

I Much prefer to stay in Sitges and just take the train into Barcelona for a days sightseeing. The URH is lovely. This was the view from our balcony.

 

 

Well, that looks perfect!

[DavyWavey70]

32 minutes ago, highplanesdrifters said:

 

Well, that looks perfect!

It was lovely, not a particularly grand hotel but the suites on the front were very pleasant and the balconies great for people watching.

[highplanesdrifters]

Just now, DavyWavey70 said:

It was lovely, not a particularly grand hotel but the suites on the front were very pleasant and the balconies great for people watching.

 

I'll take pleasant with a view any day!