Barcelona, the jewel of Spain attracting 12 million yearly visitors, is seeing a growing local resistance against its tourism boom. As businesses thrive on the influx, vital resources and public services are under strain which has sparked fierce protests from locals.
Anti-tourist slogans have covered many of the city’s walls and holiday-goers have even been targeted with water pistol attacks. Yet vlogger Ed Chapman’s found the area far from unwelcoming as he took a stroll through Catalonia’s buzzing capital.
Taking his experiences to YouTube, Ed shared an intriguing incident amounting almost to a flirtatious exchange.
He joked: “I’m not saying there was something there, but just saying we shared a smile and she asked for [the name of] my channel so I’m just saying who knows? Maybe she’s watching this right now.”
The friendly encounters aside, Ed did share a travel warning – it is imperative to book in advance when visiting the hugely popular Basílica de la Sagrada Família. Antoni Gaudí’s masterpiece, entangled in construction for 140 years, is set to finally be completed in 2026.
However, Ed advises that visitors need to plan their trip well in advance, allowing at least 10 days before a visit. As an alternative, Ed visited Park Guell, a vast outdoor showcase of Gaudi’s architectural concepts. But even this was somewhat overpriced according to Ed. “It’s alright, but it’s not worth €28,” he commented.
The biggest shock for Ed came from a bar where the cocktail prices astonishingly increased while he was in the process of ordering them. Barcelona, generally, is a very costly city to visit.
Ed reveals: “They add about €1 a night in city taxes, tourist taxes and so on. This place cost about £180 a night, but a three star would be half that price in the UK.”
However, the most significant price shock occurred when Ed tried a local cocktail bar. In the Dow Jones bar, he explains, the various cocktails are priced according to demand.
“I’ve never heard of a place like this before,” he said. “I ordered a strawberry daiquiri and it was €7 60 when I ordered it, then the price went up to €8.20 so it went up 60 after my order.”