'TOURIST GO HOME'
This message, along with other kinds of stickers and posters can be found across Barcelona. I heard Barcelona had already received 16 million tourists this year by the end of June...insane numbers. I can understand why many locals have moved away. Prices have soared over the last few years, making renting and living here harder. Like with many places, tourism can help the economy but Barcelona is a good example of letting it get so far that it just becomes like a lot of other tourist destinations. Prague and Amsterdam come to mind. The buildings and language are just different. Of course there are many things but hopefully you get what I'm trying to say.
Culture is slowly disappearing and being shadowed by the tourist industry. Now in a lot of areas it's just an array of cheap souvenir shops and supermarkets, street vendors and performers, fake, frozen Spanish food restaurants, drug dealers, hotels and selfie sticks. Barcelona still has a lot to offer and I love it as a city, it's just interesting to imagine what it's been like for a local to live here for 25 years and go through all these changes over a longer period of time, to understand why we see so many of these messages dotted about the place.
As a tourist it's important to be respectful of the place you are visiting. This is a bit of a problem here because a lot of people come here just for fun and end up being super loud and inconsiderate. To those people, just remember, "Barcelona is not a theme park". To learn about a place, it's healthy to integrate with the culture properly, not just have your own party and leave a big mess behind when you leave.
Aside from the mass tourism and party scene, Barcelona has become a hub for networking and startups, which is also what makes it so attractive to young people. A lot of property here is now rented by expats who are staying to study or take on internships. As you might have guessed, AirBNB is one of the reasons prices hiked. It's banned here now but from what I believe people still use it. I'm lucky to have found my new place through a friend, or I probably would have been out of here by now. It's nearly impossible to get a decent apartment or room that doesn't burn ten holes in your pocket.
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