Barcelona so popular it wants to LIMIT tourism

The world and his wife wants a piece of Barcelona, but the incoming mayor has other ideas.

Cities and resorts the world over spend a pretty penny trying to convince tourists and travellers to visit them, spending their cash, snapping their sights and sampling their local delicacies and produce.

But the incoming mayor of one Spanish city has decided that enough is enough, and has mooted plans to introduce a cap on tourist visitors…

That city is Barcelona, Spain’s second-largest conurbation, and the mayor – Ada Colau – has said that she wants to introduce measures to “stop the city becoming Venice”.

“If we don’t want to end up like Venice, we will have to put some kind of limit in Barcelona,” said Colau, who represents the left-wing Barcelona en Comu party that last month secured the most council seats in the city’s election.

“We can grow more, but I don’t know how much more,” she added.

Drawn by such wonderful sights including the Sagrada Familia cathedral, the Camp Nou stadium, Palau Nacional and a series of excellent beaches, tourists have plenty of things to see and do in Barcelona. In 2014, the city registered 7.57 million tourists, of which more than six million were foreign tourists. In contrast, that figure stood at little over three million in 2000.

Since then, however, the age of the easyJet traveller has made Barcelona an extremely attractive destination for many Europeans. Its beautiful architecture, excellent climate and superb atmosphere is evidently appealing to all-comers, but the city has at times felt the strain of hosting these additional numbers.

“We have to put a moratorium in place regarding new hotels and tourist apartments, carry out a census and create a preventative policy before things get out of hand,” said Colau, who remarked that the city’s Cuitat Vella – the old quarter – is already overrun with tourists for much of the year.

The incoming mayor is also suggesting a city-wide freeze on new hotels and tourist apartments for an initial period of six months while she analyses exactly which parts of the city can best expand to accommodate more visitors.

Málaga has all the tools to rival Barcelona as a tourist destination in its own right.

Critics have suggested that Colau’s words are merely populism in action, latching on to a growing resentment among some quarters at tourism that some people feel has grown unchecked. Despite the cash that visitors pour into the city, some locals believe that they are diluting parts of the city’s character and charm.

Barcelona is a fantastic destination, but Brits keen on sampling something truly Spanish could do well to remember that the big cities of Andalucía – Seville, Málaga and Granada – can each hold their own against their Catalan cousin. All three of them boast an enviable charm and beauty that few other cities can match, and Málaga – with its busy airport, beachfront location and thriving arts scene – has begun to rival Barcelona on many fronts, except, perhaps, that pesky footballing one…