Tourism is now the fourth biggest concern for residents of Barcelona

The City Council's Services Survey ranks the arrival of visitors as the fourth biggest concern among citizens, at 6.2%, behind insecurity, housing, and cleanliness. A study from the Rovira i Virgili University confirms that overcrowding alters the routes and schedules of residents.

Tourism has become one of the main concerns for residents of Barcelona. The latest Services Survey published by the City Council last week places the arrival of visitors as the fourth most serious problem in the city, mentioned by 6.2% of respondents. Ahead of it are insecurity (23.8%), access to housing (23%), and cleanliness (6.4%).

This figure represents a half-point increase compared to the previous year, according to the same municipal survey. However, the perception is not uniform across the city.

In Gràcia, tourism is the second most cited problem, at 11.1%, and in L'Eixample, it reaches 10.6%. At the opposite end, it is scarcely mentioned in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi (1.2%), Sant Andreu (0.8%), and Nou Barris (0.3%).

Beyond citizen perception, a study by the Rovira i Virgili University (URV) concludes that tourist pressure forces residents to reorganise their daily lives. The research, published in the journal Tourism Planning & Development, analyses how overcrowding alters daily mobility in three of the most touristy neighbourhoods: Gòtic, Barceloneta, and Sagrada Família.

Taking children to school, going out for a drink, or taking a walk in the neighbourhood are now activities that many residents plan to avoid peak visitor hours. The study confirms that a significant portion of residents have devised strategies to avoid congestion: changing routes to avoid certain streets or squares, or altering shopping and walking times.

“Some spaces that were previously perceived as community living areas are now experienced as tourist territory, that is, zones primarily oriented towards visitor consumption and less towards the daily needs of those who live there,” says Aaron Gutiérrez, a researcher in the Department of Geography and participant in the study.

Gutiérrez adds that this situation generates a feeling of “loss of personal space and displacement of the local population.”

The researchers point out that the problem is not only the number of tourists but also how they move: in groups, with unpredictable paths, and occupying a significant part of public space. The feeling of insecurity, related to an increase in thefts, also appears in the study interviews and can influence the routes and schedules of residents.

The study concludes that overcrowding affects the everyday use of squares, parks, and main streets, which cease to function as meeting points and become tourist thoroughfares. This, they note, leads to a perception of decreased quality of life and transformation of the neighbourhood's identity.

The municipal data and the URV study arrive at a time when the debate on tourism management remains on the table in Barcelona. For residents of the most affected neighbourhoods, the findings confirm a change in habits that they are already applying daily.