Barcelona’s tourism economy is already significant, contributing almost 13% of the city’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce. Much of this income is attributable to the pulling power of Catalan architect Gaudí and his iconic structures such as the Sagrada Familia cathedral and La Pedrera. Street closures for the Pope As we reported recently, the Pope will be in town this week to celebrate the topping off of the highest tower of the Sa

Barcelona is a city facing enormous tourism pressure. This has encouraged a series of measures to control tourism, including restricting Airbnb (due to be banned completely by 2028), increasing the tourism tax and banning pub crawls. In common with cities like Amsterdam, Barcelona is trying to adopt a placemaking approach to tourism, rather than place marketing. Tourism policy is orientating towards improving the quality of life for residents, rather than attracting more and

Walking through the Eixample in the centre of Barcelona one encounters an interesting exercise in bottom-up critique of urban speculation and touristification. A series of posters erected at the bottom of Passeig Sant Joan by the Associació de Veïns i Veïnes de la Dreta de Eixample - (Residents Association of the Right of the Eixample) provides a stark example of the effects of speculation and tourist pressure in the centre of Barcelona. Density of tourist beds in the Eixamp