Locals squirt tourists w/ water guns: Barcelona mass tourism protests

[Anonymous]

In cheap countries, the price we pay for three nights accommodation in an Airbnb is equivalent to what locals pay in a month. So it’s no wonder landlords choose go the Airbnb route. I would too. It’s not a charity after all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If hotels would make more comfortable options for a family of four without having to get two rooms, I would absolutely use them over Airbnbs. But it almost always makes more sense cost wise for us to do an Airbnb, which gives us extra money to spend throughout the city on other stuff.

Way to prioritize your pocketbook over the far more critical housing rights of locals.

What else do you expect people to do?

They expect you to not travel to places where you cannot afford to stay in however many hotel rooms needed for your family.

Hotels failed to offer the product so a competitor moved in.

That's basic economics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If hotels would make more comfortable options for a family of four without having to get two rooms, I would absolutely use them over Airbnbs. But it almost always makes more sense cost wise for us to do an Airbnb, which gives us extra money to spend throughout the city on other stuff.

Way to prioritize your pocketbook over the far more critical housing rights of locals.

What else do you expect people to do?

They expect you to not travel to places where you cannot afford to stay in however many hotel rooms needed for your family.

Hotels failed to offer the product so a competitor moved in.

That's basic economics.

And how’s that working? The competitor got itself banned.

[Anonymous]

I can't see what the best solution here is. Are hotel rooms sitting empty because everyone is staying in AirBnbs? Not to my knowledge, so the issue is the demand for a place to sleep is so high that the hotels alone can't meet it.

But, any tourist, no matter where they stay, is spending money in the local economy. Restaurants, taxi drivers, etc all benefit directly from tourists. Is the goal to drive them away and deflate the economy? Spain has a 26% youth unemployment rate. Do they really want to make this worse?

[Anonymous]

The Catalonian Government has spent the last 7ish years wasting it's time with a futile effort for independence and ignoring infrastructure problems in cities. It's not just housing, there are also fights about water restrictions locals have but tourists don't.

The locals are now feeling the effects of what they voted for. Sucks for them but that's why you need to really think about who your vote for.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If hotels would make more comfortable options for a family of four without having to get two rooms, I would absolutely use them over Airbnbs. But it almost always makes more sense cost wise for us to do an Airbnb, which gives us extra money to spend throughout the city on other stuff.

Way to prioritize your pocketbook over the far more critical housing rights of locals.

What else do you expect people to do?

They expect you to not travel to places where you cannot afford to stay in however many hotel rooms needed for your family.

Hotels failed to offer the product so a competitor moved in.

That's basic economics.

And how’s that working? The competitor got itself banned.

It went underground. A typical response to over regulation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If hotels would make more comfortable options for a family of four without having to get two rooms, I would absolutely use them over Airbnbs. But it almost always makes more sense cost wise for us to do an Airbnb, which gives us extra money to spend throughout the city on other stuff.

Way to prioritize your pocketbook over the far more critical housing rights of locals.

What else do you expect people to do?

They expect you to not travel to places where you cannot afford to stay in however many hotel rooms needed for your family.

Hotels failed to offer the product so a competitor moved in.

That's basic economics.

And how’s that working? The competitor got itself banned.

It went underground. A typical response to over regulation.

Sure, some went underground. But you can’t pretend the entire market went underground. And good luck to any fool booking an illegal rental.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If hotels would make more comfortable options for a family of four without having to get two rooms, I would absolutely use them over Airbnbs. But it almost always makes more sense cost wise for us to do an Airbnb, which gives us extra money to spend throughout the city on other stuff.

Way to prioritize your pocketbook over the far more critical housing rights of locals.

What else do you expect people to do?

They expect you to not travel to places where you cannot afford to stay in however many hotel rooms needed for your family.

Hotels failed to offer the product so a competitor moved in.

That's basic economics.

Some selfish tourists prioritize the ridiculous need for extra space and a kitchen over the far more important housing needs of locals.

[Anonymous]

Airbnb is like Uber and other tech companies whose business model is to become a middle man in an industry that was functioning fine before, sidestepping expertise and regulation and making a buck in that gap. As long as there are tech bros, there will be those types of tensions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I can't see what the best solution here is. Are hotel rooms sitting empty because everyone is staying in AirBnbs? Not to my knowledge, so the issue is the demand for a place to sleep is so high that the hotels alone can't meet it.

But, any tourist, no matter where they stay, is spending money in the local economy. Restaurants, taxi drivers, etc all benefit directly from tourists. Is the goal to drive them away and deflate the economy? Spain has a 26% youth unemployment rate. Do they really want to make this worse?

Uh, the topic is mass tourism and why it’s a bad thing.

If AirBnBs didn’t exist, then overly touristy places like Barcelona could essentially limit the number of tourists…by the number of hotel rooms.

Your post makes it sound like tourists deserve to over-run a city by displacing locals through the conversion of rental housing to AirBnB vacation rentals.
^^^^^
That’s the problem!

That’s why locals are taking to the streets to protest in such aggressive ways as screaming at tourists in cafes while squirting them.

I’m not defending the aggressive protesting. It’s not cool.

But Dcumlandia should recognize its role in such things when you opt to stay in an AirBnB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If hotels would make more comfortable options for a family of four without having to get two rooms, I would absolutely use them over Airbnbs. But it almost always makes more sense cost wise for us to do an Airbnb, which gives us extra money to spend throughout the city on other stuff.

Way to prioritize your pocketbook over the far more critical housing rights of locals.

What else do you expect people to do?

They expect you to not travel to places where you cannot afford to stay in however many hotel rooms needed for your family.

Hotels failed to offer the product so a competitor moved in.

That's basic economics.

Some selfish tourists prioritize the ridiculous need for extra space and a kitchen over the far more important housing needs of locals.

How many of the selfish tourists who got sprayed were staying at hotels?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The logical conclusion of the argument is to ban all second homes and timeshares.

Or require a tourists pass and limit the amount available each week/day/month. Do it Everest style.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can't see what the best solution here is. Are hotel rooms sitting empty because everyone is staying in AirBnbs? Not to my knowledge, so the issue is the demand for a place to sleep is so high that the hotels alone can't meet it.

But, any tourist, no matter where they stay, is spending money in the local economy. Restaurants, taxi drivers, etc all benefit directly from tourists. Is the goal to drive them away and deflate the economy? Spain has a 26% youth unemployment rate. Do they really want to make this worse?

Uh, the topic is mass tourism and why it’s a bad thing.

If AirBnBs didn’t exist, then overly touristy places like Barcelona could essentially limit the number of tourists…by the number of hotel rooms.

Your post makes it sound like tourists deserve to over-run a city by displacing locals through the conversion of rental housing to AirBnB vacation rentals.
^^^^^
That’s the problem!

That’s why locals are taking to the streets to protest in such aggressive ways as screaming at tourists in cafes while squirting them.

I’m not defending the aggressive protesting. It’s not cool.

But Dcumlandia should recognize its role in such things when you opt to stay in an AirBnB.

The person who posted locals should just move further out absolutely believes this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If hotels would make more comfortable options for a family of four without having to get two rooms, I would absolutely use them over Airbnbs. But it almost always makes more sense cost wise for us to do an Airbnb, which gives us extra money to spend throughout the city on other stuff.

Way to prioritize your pocketbook over the far more critical housing rights of locals.

What else do you expect people to do?

They expect you to not travel to places where you cannot afford to stay in however many hotel rooms needed for your family.

Hotels failed to offer the product so a competitor moved in.

That's basic economics.

Some selfish tourists prioritize the ridiculous need for extra space and a kitchen over the far more important housing needs of locals.

Why stop with tourists? What about the local wealthy who have bigger homes and cars then they need or use? Why not limit the amount of square feet living space available to Barcelona residents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If hotels would make more comfortable options for a family of four without having to get two rooms, I would absolutely use them over Airbnbs. But it almost always makes more sense cost wise for us to do an Airbnb, which gives us extra money to spend throughout the city on other stuff.

Way to prioritize your pocketbook over the far more critical housing rights of locals.

What else do you expect people to do?

They expect you to not travel to places where you cannot afford to stay in however many hotel rooms needed for your family.

Hotels failed to offer the product so a competitor moved in.

That's basic economics.

Some selfish tourists prioritize the ridiculous need for extra space and a kitchen over the far more important housing needs of locals.

Yes, these selfish tourists who are supporting the local economy.