Strange BBC Short Documentary ?

Last week I came across a strange BBC News clip that left me thinking a lot. Whilst celebrating the triumph of Barcelona as a tourist destination, marvelling at the architecture and art in both Gaudi and Picasso and revealing startling statistics such as the fact that 80,000 tourists arrive in the Catalan Capital per day, the main mini-documentary wasn't congratulating a city whose mother country is firmly established as one of the PIIGS - oh, no, it's that Barcelona as a tourist destination is becoming crowded. In fact, the tourists are "spoiling" Barcelona.



If you've got 9 minutes to spare, go and watch the video on that link above. you might see where I'm coming from (Auntie doesn't let you embed their videos). Go on, I'll wait.

One in ten residents works in tourism-related job and in 2011 Barcelona hosted more conferences than any other city in Europe (and has been granted the World mobile Congress again until 2018). However, it's the locals who complain about the abundance of ice cream stalls after the council closed down the bird sellers and allowed them to open up the ice cream stalls right on las ramblas.

I tire of reading polls in the paper of the citizen's main concerns over safety in the city (after unemployment, usually) or stories of robberies and pickpockets but whilst the law remains the same, the problem will not go away. Surely the politicians should be addressing this kind of problem before building new marinas for luxury yachts.

The video has so many talking points, from losing identity -despite having the most ethnic and diverse neighbourhood in the whole of Catalonia to the simple opinion of "if you don't like the heat, get out of the kitchen...but it's my kitchen" kind of attitude.

What do you think? I'm not completely opposed to everything the video has to offer, and I think this is a platform for discussion, so would love to hear your comments.

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Press Panic for Air Strike OK vs Japan

A huge sigh of relief today for the tourism sector of Spain, but really the whole of Spain (which depends so much of the tourism trade) as an agreement has been reached over the proposed strikes of the air traffic controllers of Aena - Spain's public airport infrastructure.

As well as the chaos left from the volcanic ash of last year, Spanish air traffic controllers held the country to ransom with a random strike - a fact that went unnoticed in the majority of the European press. With tourism noting that the problems Israel had suffered earlier this year had begun to benefit Spain as well as the increase of foreiners visiting Spain each year despite the crisis, the announcement this month of the proposed strike in Easter Week, Summer and many other bank holidays and public holidays dropped like a bombshell and was widely reported in many newspapers, TV stations and websites around Europe with countries like Germany and the UK practically encouraging their citizens to go elsewhere.

So, what's the problem, then? Well, despite the strike now being called off, the column inches and TV stations are (quite rightly) giving non-stop information of the tragedy and possible nuclear disaster in Japan, and have no plans to dedicate time to clear the air - pardon the pun there - with news that the strike has been called off. Travel agencies desperate to save the Easter and summer holidays are fearing that it may just be too little too late with many European families already making alternative arrangements for their sunshine breaks.

So, if you're planning a trip to Barcelona this year, fear not!! and check out some last-minute Barcelona deals to save money. For a quick look at the city sights, see this Barcelona Guide.

And for the more serious problem happening in Japan right now, please donate here.

Another Reason to Visit Park Güell

Park Güell is probably one of the busiest and most visited attractions in the city. It's never in a top 10 list of visitor trends as it's free to get in, so difficult to get this kind of information. Late last year, Barcelona council had plans to charge an entrance fee to the park, in order to help with the costs to clean the park, clean up the graffiti, etc. Well, the plans were fortunately scrapped last month, meaning that it's still one of the best things to do in Barcelona for free.



Well, if UNESCO World Heritage Status wasn't enough for you, Saturday gives you another reason to hit the park. The two Hansel and Gretel-style house at the entrance to the park have pretty much been ornamental thus far. Well, on Saturday, you can gain entrance to a fully-restored "Casa de la Guardia" or porter's house. This is a three storey building and was intended to serve as the park's porter/janitor/security guard's house. The restoration work has cost 113,000 Euros according to press reports this morning, and has restored the bright primary colours intended for the inside, and explains a little more about just why the idea of the park never quite took off - for those of you unaware, Gaudi and (funder) Eusebi Güell planned for the park to be an exclusive neighbourhood for the rich bourgeois, a kind of old fashioned Beverly Hills, if you like. Should be interesting!


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How Much is Barcelona Worth?

This week, a report published by the Plan Estrategico del Turismo has been widely publicised in the press. Sections of the press were given access to huge amounts of documentation relating to the government's "strategic plan of tourism" which starts in 2010 and aims to be set in stone by 2015. Some fascinating statistics have come out of the report - which is obviously relying on last year's data, but nevertheless gives some jaw-dropping details.

Tourists in Barcelona, leave a staggering 20 million Euros per day in the city, creating with that an estimated 80-100,000 jobs with it. 18,4 million tourists visit the city each year, although this figure also includes those on day-trips, excursions and the like - not necessarily those sleeping in the city (that figure drops to almost 11 million).

The report and its findings were due to be presented today in the commission of economical promotion, with a view to cement the ideas and decisions which need making ahead of next year's deadline.



Despite the study's findings being encouraging on the face of things, the report also draws attention to a possible self-destruct button on the city's tourism sector, claiming a "risk of dying from its own success". There is a fair bit of detail about the overcrowding of certain tourist hot spots such as Park Güell, Sagrada Familia, Las Ramblas and indeed Cuitat Vella as a whole. Poor behaviour of tourists in these areas, prostitution, the petty crime which the tourists attract and locals having to share their already-confined space with huge amounts of tourists have been high on any list of complaints for a number of years now, and perhaps reached a peak in summer when El Pais published photos of tourists "employing the services" of prostitutes on the side alleys of La Boqueria. A swift and heavy police presence soon rid the papers of any more photos, but the problem was simply swept to other areas, and is not the solution to a greater problem - one which the plan aims to tackle.

So how much is Barcelona worth? Well, despite TripAdvisor labelling Barcelona the pickpocket capital of the world, there are many other plaudits the city can be proud of. This Study labels Barcelona as the 5th best city in the world. This highly respected survey saw Barcelona leapfrog Brussels to be 4th most important Business capital in Europe, and the same report hailed Barcelona as number 1 destination with regards quality of life over all other European cities.

Now, I know we're in a crisis, but 20 million Euros per day is a heck of a lot of money, if you ask me. So what's 365 multiplied by 20 million ?....back in a minute, just going to get a calculator.

What do you think of the findings and situation? I'd love to hear your comments.

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Don't bite the hand that feeds you!!

I've noticed over the years of living in Barcelona as an ex-pat, that the Catalans like to complain. I mean, everyone complains and more often than not we have our innate human right to complain about something.
I remember for example being absolutely amazed at the sights in Barcelona just a few days after the "War on Terror" and the invasion on Iraq. People would coordinate for 21h and bang pots and pans outside their windows, honk horns (if you were on the way back from work and hadn't had the chance to get back to your kitchen)and this would go on for at least 20 minutes, at first for successive days. This struck me as a very humanitarian episode, but at the same time a futile exercise. Who is going to hear you? The Spanish government, maybe (it made the news for a few days), the people or the soldiers in Iraq? I doubt it.

And this has gone on ever since - not so much the pots and pans banging, but many manifestations and gripes about one thing or the other. My family and I were out walking one Sunday, and happened upon a group holding up traffic on Las Ramblas. Problem was, as much as I tried to read 15 metre-long the banners they were holding, one end was held by a person smoking and chatting and the other was at least 5/6 steps behind making it almost impossible for anyone to read just what they were complaining about. Unfortunately I have no hard evidence to show for these ramblings, but I do have two new ones, which again strike me as odd. I may well ruffle a few feathers here, so beware.

The recent festivities of "La Merçe" festival for me have been the longest in recent memory. I think the fact that the actual feast day of Our Lady of Mercy this year fell on a Wednesday made the whole festivities stretch out that bit longer. Events started on the previous Thursday, and continued right up until the fireworks on Montjüic on Wednesday night. A typical stroll though the Gothic Quarter on this week is a great way to visit Barcelona and appreciate its popularity - with residents and tourists alike. So, lo and behold, what do we see on every free space available on walls but "flyers/posters" in (it has to be said fairly arty) protest to the activity brought about by La Merçe.

The poster says "Neighbours - a species in danger of extinction". Now, I know that there is a high proportion of tourism be it hotels or Barcelona apartments for rent within the old town, but it's the centre of the city, so it's to be expected. Spain's main income (and that includes Catalunya) is from Tourism, and according to the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Tourism of Spain, Catalunya (read Barcelona) has the Lion's share of this influx. There are so many low cost airlines arriving daily to BCN, Reus and Girona, it's impossible to keep up!

Another poster that I saw today caught my attention. This was also a prostest, but against the whole system - the poster invites you to "celebrate 20 years of social and urban destrucion...dirty war...mobbing (what the Barcelonans have dubbed as aggressive estate agencies hounding you out of your home), tourist exploits..." you get the idea. This protest was to be housed on the Rambla del Raval - just as the new 4 star (well overdue) Barcelo Raval hotel opened it's doors. I don't think anyone would disagree that the new hotel will shine like a beacon in the new Raval (kind of like the original idea of the rambla del raval) and that it can only have a positive effect on the area. The new Filmoteca is underway (again, well overdue), and it's great to see development in the middle of the Raval, to follow suit with upper Raval (MACBA, CCCB, etc.) The poster depicts the new hotel as a backdrop to slums and a cheesy yougster smiling in the foreground.

I suppose the puzzling thing is that all of these new improvements are geared towards the end user - which is not always the tourist. This summer has seen an amazing amount of new "bicing" points scattered around the city (in fact you can't go too far without finding a new one), not to mention huge overhauls in bike lanes and the removal of Zona Blau (zone parking). How is all of this funded? Tax payers - main income = tourism. Many, many industries thrive on Barcelona tourism (and I'm not talking about the tourist shops dotted along las Ramblas) and not just the hotels. I sympathise with the house pricing in Barcelona which according to minimum wage is an absolute joke, but to generalise the whole system as including tourism as a negative aspect, I find ridiculous. Just ask Madrid how tourism and businesses were affected after the atrocious bombings - this is by no means a "be careful what you wish for" message - just a confused foreigner in the old town, maybe missing the point.

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