Is Barcelona’s Crazy Tourist Boom Too Much of a Good Thing?

Is Barcelona’s Crazy Tourist Boom Too Much of a Good Thing? by Don Quijones • Apr 16, 2017 • 56 Comments It brings buckets of money, but what are the consequences? By Don Quijones, Spain & Mexico, editor at WOLF STREET. Barcelona, Europe’s most visited non-capital city (at least officially speaking), is now so saturated with tourists that even the tourists are complaining. In a recent study by the City Council, 40% of the tourists surveyed thought that prices in the city were too high, while 59% believed that the streets and tourist hotspots were too crowded. They’ve got a point. In 2015 the city, with a total permanent population of 1.7 million, drew 8.9 million visitors, 6.5% more than the year before and a five-fold increase from 1990. And that’s just those who stayed in hotels. Airbnb hosts provided accommodation for a further 900,000 visitors. By 2016 that number had climbed to 1.25 million. Many Airbnb offerings are considered illegal, according to the City Council. RED more:http://wolfstreet.com/2017/04/16/barcelona-tourist-boom-too-much-of-a-good-thing/