Not surprised. I definitely sensed the undercurrent of anti-tourist hostility in Barcelona last December— but it was relatively subtle compared to Sevilla, where the resentment was much more overt. The only Spanish city that seemed to have it under control was Valencia.

If there are no tourists in Barcelona, who are the pickpockets going to rob?

Very kind of them, this time of year

What horrible people. I hope it puts people off visiting, despite being an isolated incident, and the silent majority of decent Spanish people get the lunatics under control when income is hit.

newcastle_marconi,

that was the aim of the action, put off people of visiting, so it seems it was a big success in your case.

really, as Barcelonian, i still dont understand why 90% of the tourists come to Barcelona. they dont care about the place they are visiting so they would be better in a place not so crowded, with better temperatures (on summer time) and probably cheaper.

Barcelona also struggles with large amounts of immigration, the locals are facing a perfect storm....as are the locals in many other areas.

The answer would be to build tourist specific accommodation and not to turn residential units into tourist lettings.

The growing stunts against tourists while understandable will most likely put off people coming.

Colleagues

I have visited Barcelona often. I love taking European City Breaks. Why? Because I am an Art Gallery and Museum fan. In Barcelona I love the Picasso Museum, the Miro Foundation, MNAC and MEAM, specialist Art shops, Gaudi buildings and Churches and markets. I love the atmosphere of the City. I adore the parks and pavement restaurants and cafes where I can people watch. I adore staying in Sitges, my favourite seaside town.

I am aware there is an element who would like to destroy my visit in a number of ways. Barcelona and Sitges are not alone in having "chancers" acting cruelly. Still I will visit again this October.

Cheers

Anthony K

@#7. Are there empty places in central Barcelona where it is possible to build big blocks of flats solely for tourists?

I think Barcelona will continue to have high numbers of visitors, simply because it's on the tick-list for people from many countries visiting Europe.

The city is already losing some potential visitors because of its renowned problem with robberies, piclpocketing etc (as now is the nearby town of Sitges) - but these numbers will be small compared to the mass of tourists who will continue to visit.

I've visited and stayed 15+ times in the past, but would not stay there again not just because of the undercurrent of criminality but because it's clear tourists aren't welcome. Someone in my Spanish class in London last week said they were thinking of going but had been told not to because of crime and asked my view, - I gave it, so now it will have one less visitor and Madrid one more. It's still a beautiful city, and I'm sure that most of its inhabitants are good, nice people - but it's now too edgy and dodgy for my liking, and there are much better - safer - cities and indeed airports to visit without having to be constantly on alert due to the larger numbers of thieves at work.