“Bye Bye, Barcelona” – A Differing View

Last month I posted this documentary:

 .

 .

… and sent it off to a friend in Barcelona friend to view and comment:

I finished watching the video. Insightful. I did learn one thing from it: Good luck trying to make everyone happy.  I understand about the feeling of removing or taking away part of their heritage (their streets, culture, etc.) However, being happy with all the progress in the city (moving from decaying industrial city to a cosmopolitan city) and having all the amazing infrastructure, it is odd to blame the tourist for the benefits most are enjoying. Yes, the blue-collar people are being marginalized or pushed away (if you noticed, the demographics of ones blaming the tourists).

 

It made me think of Nice in France: it has the beaches, similar to BCN,.  Have you seen the city? A depressing town. Barcelona is flourshing and changes always will have consequences. For the most part, I think Barcelona have been really smart to plan the city that it is today, and the short/long term projects are moving forward.

Tourism no doubt is huge (and over-exploited?) maybe, but it is opening the door to bring and attract new businesses in town, conferences, etc. Without tourism, BCN would be just like any other city in Spain right now, – in trouble. There is car manufacturing car here that may or may not have existed today.  

 

When those people (complainers) go as tourists to places, don’t they do the same? Go and touch, and walk and swim, and do what’s typical or thematic of a particular place? No?

 

Progress has a price tag. We all pay for it, we all enjoy it. Some will praise it; some will complain about it. One word: perspective. 

.

.

UPDATE: A view from a local in BCN:

“Oh please. Thanks to tourists we have the city we have and employment we have now. We had no beaches at all, the city was a shit hole, unplanned.  Barcelona was nothing before money was poured in 20 years ago – from where? Tourism, starting from the Olympics.  Things started to get in shape, up to the city we have now. The industrial city started to die, employment was shrinking – no reason to blame tourism, but all the contrary,” more or less of what he said.

 

Now there is a lot of pride for anyone being from Barcelona, not before 20 years ago.  

Three years ago Spain was in pain in terms of economics. Barcelona was doing fine and keeps doing fine thanks to tourism. Seventy percent of Spanish tourism was taken by Barcelona alone. Thanks to that, the metro, trams, keep getting better and better. There is money here coming from tourism. Nostalgia for the old living will always occur to all of us, but the thing is that the city has grown beautifully thanks to tourism.