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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tourism bring money argument only works so far.

Barcelona is Barcelona because of its people, more than anything. Is Rome still Rome if there are no Romans? Is Venice still Venice without Venetians? Is Kyoto still Kyoto if there are no more Kyotonians?

Modern day tourism is awful. You just have mass hordes flocking to a place for selfie photos because they saw nice pictures online. They often partake very little in the local culture, learn absolutely zero at museums because all they're doing the whole time is taking selfies, and world sites are treated like playgrounds for millions.

If none of these places have local people and local culture, all cities like Barcelona become are empty buildings with zero culture. They're just Disney world.

The world will be fine without Airbnb. Barcelona existed for millennia without Airbnb. The other huge problem too is that you have multiple cruises dumping 10,000+ people per stop, multiple times per day. Those people often spend no money because they get food and everything else on the ship. They clog up the streets and transit to get around for a few hours just so that they can take photos and leave. Cruisers are locusts who destroy the planet and local cultures wherever they go.

How would you feel if fleets of busses dumped 40,000 people per day, every single day, 365 in your neighborhood while people walked around all over your yards, clogged up the roads taking selfies, jam packed all of the busses and trains you needed to get to work, made huge lines at all of your favorite local eating spots, and made life so miserable you'd want to leave?

That's what they face everyday due to huge cruise liners dumping a city's worth of people multiple times per day every single day.

While I agree this is all very annoying, taking Airbnb out of the equation will change absolutely nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a little weekend house on the Shenandoah River. It's a small community of homes -- maybe just shy of 100, not all of them river front (most not river front). Unsurprisingly, several river front properties have been purchased and turned into AirBnbs fairly recently. A couple of homes were even built, brand new, as AirBnbs. I think in the last 5 years or so.

I actually worry about the folks who live there year-round doing something drastic (maybe even violent). The resentment has been brewing for years and is really bad at this point. The big complaint is speeding (our roads are gravel, speed limit is 15, and people have kids and pets out playing), but there is simmering class tension at the root of it. I don't think it is an exaggeration to say that rage is building regarding the Airbnbs.

So this does not surprise me. Airbnbs are stressing communities all over the world.

If there is any class tension rage building, your little non-primary residence is right in the bulls eye of it. You think you are better than people who can only afford to spend a few nights in your paradise, but you are not.

We have owned our house there for over 30 years. My DH is on the board of the HOA (which does nothing but road upkeep). We know almost everyone, and were up there for a week last week dog sitting for a neighbor whose spouse had a stroke. We have done volunteer hard labor on the roads when they needed work and the coffers were running dry. We are part of the community, contribute to it more than most, and have do so for decades.

Not the same thing as the exploitive Airbnb situation at all. So take your assumptions and ignorant aggression elsewhere.

DP. This self-righteous post does not actually respond to the good point unpacking what you even mean by “class tensions”? Okay, so you (or your DH it sounds like) is a good noble aristocrat and how dare people visit his kingdom?

Yeah, if you want to call a literal hunting/fishing shack purchased 30 years ago a kingdom. We are not rich people.

The class tensions are pretty clear in the Airbnb debate. Anyone commenting on a thread about what happened in Spain should have a modicum of understanding of such things or sit down.

We understand. You’re bitter because you know that you are the same as the air bnb interlopers. You just got there a bit earlier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tourism bring money argument only works so far.

Barcelona is Barcelona because of its people, more than anything. Is Rome still Rome if there are no Romans? Is Venice still Venice without Venetians? Is Kyoto still Kyoto if there are no more Kyotonians?

Modern day tourism is awful. You just have mass hordes flocking to a place for selfie photos because they saw nice pictures online. They often partake very little in the local culture, learn absolutely zero at museums because all they're doing the whole time is taking selfies, and world sites are treated like playgrounds for millions.

If none of these places have local people and local culture, all cities like Barcelona become are empty buildings with zero culture. They're just Disney world.

The world will be fine without Airbnb. Barcelona existed for millennia without Airbnb. The other huge problem too is that you have multiple cruises dumping 10,000+ people per stop, multiple times per day. Those people often spend no money because they get food and everything else on the ship. They clog up the streets and transit to get around for a few hours just so that they can take photos and leave. Cruisers are locusts who destroy the planet and local cultures wherever they go.

How would you feel if fleets of busses dumped 40,000 people per day, every single day, 365 in your neighborhood while people walked around all over your yards, clogged up the roads taking selfies, jam packed all of the busses and trains you needed to get to work, made huge lines at all of your favorite local eating spots, and made life so miserable you'd want to leave?

That's what they face everyday due to huge cruise liners dumping a city's worth of people multiple times per day every single day.

While I agree this is all very annoying, taking Airbnb out of the equation will change absolutely nothing.

Airbnb doesn't need to be in any equation. Sucking away any housing for short term rentals is bad no matter what. Barcelona was fine before the advent of Airbnb. It will be fine for the next 1000 years without Airbnb.

You sound like a shill who drinks Airbnb Koolaid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tourism bring money argument only works so far.

Barcelona is Barcelona because of its people, more than anything. Is Rome still Rome if there are no Romans? Is Venice still Venice without Venetians? Is Kyoto still Kyoto if there are no more Kyotonians?

Modern day tourism is awful. You just have mass hordes flocking to a place for selfie photos because they saw nice pictures online. They often partake very little in the local culture, learn absolutely zero at museums because all they're doing the whole time is taking selfies, and world sites are treated like playgrounds for millions.

If none of these places have local people and local culture, all cities like Barcelona become are empty buildings with zero culture. They're just Disney world.

The world will be fine without Airbnb. Barcelona existed for millennia without Airbnb. The other huge problem too is that you have multiple cruises dumping 10,000+ people per stop, multiple times per day. Those people often spend no money because they get food and everything else on the ship. They clog up the streets and transit to get around for a few hours just so that they can take photos and leave. Cruisers are locusts who destroy the planet and local cultures wherever they go.

How would you feel if fleets of busses dumped 40,000 people per day, every single day, 365 in your neighborhood while people walked around all over your yards, clogged up the roads taking selfies, jam packed all of the busses and trains you needed to get to work, made huge lines at all of your favorite local eating spots, and made life so miserable you'd want to leave?

That's what they face everyday due to huge cruise liners dumping a city's worth of people multiple times per day every single day.

While I agree this is all very annoying, taking Airbnb out of the equation will change absolutely nothing.

Airbnb doesn't need to be in any equation. Sucking away any housing for short term rentals is bad no matter what. Barcelona was fine before the advent of Airbnb. It will be fine for the next 1000 years without Airbnb.

You sound like a shill who drinks Airbnb Koolaid.

I guess I am. Airbnb just works better for my family than hotels most of the time. As I’ve mentioned upthread, if hotels were to respond to consumer needs and create more rooms with comfortable sleeping arrangements for four, then I’d use them. In the meantime, we’ve stayed in some really interesting places and met some lovely local owners of those properties.

To be honest, I think I’m just about done with international travel overall, though, for the other reasons mentioned. Too many people (of which we are four). I’m ready to scale it back after this summer and return to old-fashioned road trips or something.

[Anonymous]

We always do hotels because I am very against airbnbs due to them ruining my former town and street! That being said, I do agree some hotels need to do better on accommodating families. In Barcelona we did get a great deal on two communicating rooms at the Barcelo Sants Hotel which was a lot of fun with a futuristic vibe, and perfect location if you're taking the train anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We always do hotels because I am very against airbnbs due to them ruining my former town and street! That being said, I do agree some hotels need to do better on accommodating families. In Barcelona we did get a great deal on two communicating rooms at the Barcelo Sants Hotel which was a lot of fun with a futuristic vibe, and perfect location if you're taking the train anywhere.

Hotels are great about accommodating families that can afford it, the problem is the disconnect between the cost of a suite and most families' travel budgets. People clamoring for an and to airBNB and less crowded cities really want a return to a time when travel was reserved for the rich

[Anonymous]

I try to avoid Airbnb in big cities due to housing crises and often stay in private rooms in hostels with my family of four. But there is a growing trend among the big hostel companies (eg, Generator) to not provide a shared kitchen and ban eating private food like delivery or grocery in them at all. This is turning me away from these hostels now with the sky high restaurant costs in Northern Europe. I assume the business model is making money off their bars and restaurants. As others have mentioned, laundry is another challenge. I try to book a place with laundry every five days or so. Try doing a family of four’s laundry with a traditional per item laundry service. I added it up once and it was close to a $1000 for one round of the previous week’s four people’s laundry at a 5 star hotel. Laundry mats or services are exceedingly difficult to find in some locations. Perhaps local governments banning AirBnBs could require new hotel builds and possibly remodels to include laundry machines and a communal kitchen?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We always do hotels because I am very against airbnbs due to them ruining my former town and street! That being said, I do agree some hotels need to do better on accommodating families. In Barcelona we did get a great deal on two communicating rooms at the Barcelo Sants Hotel which was a lot of fun with a futuristic vibe, and perfect location if you're taking the train anywhere.

Hotels are great about accommodating families that can afford it, the problem is the disconnect between the cost of a suite and most families' travel budgets. People clamoring for an and to airBNB and less crowded cities really want a return to a time when travel was reserved for the rich

And why should it be a locals' problem whether or not you can afford to take your family abroad? No one has a fundamental right to cheap hotel options so that they can travel on vacation while locals who actually need to exist in a place need basic necessities like housing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We always do hotels because I am very against airbnbs due to them ruining my former town and street! That being said, I do agree some hotels need to do better on accommodating families. In Barcelona we did get a great deal on two communicating rooms at the Barcelo Sants Hotel which was a lot of fun with a futuristic vibe, and perfect location if you're taking the train anywhere.

Hotels are great about accommodating families that can afford it, the problem is the disconnect between the cost of a suite and most families' travel budgets. People clamoring for an and to airBNB and less crowded cities really want a return to a time when travel was reserved for the rich

And why should it be a locals' problem whether or not you can afford to take your family abroad? No one has a fundamental right to cheap hotel options so that they can travel on vacation while locals who actually need to exist in a place need basic necessities like housing.

DP. No one has a fundamental right to cheap anything in a desirable section of a city. Neither the tourists nor the people who want to live there. There are economic forces working in both ways here. Go ahead and take Airbnb away, I don’t care. But the waitress who works at the cafe around the corner still won’t be able to afford to live there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We always do hotels because I am very against airbnbs due to them ruining my former town and street! That being said, I do agree some hotels need to do better on accommodating families. In Barcelona we did get a great deal on two communicating rooms at the Barcelo Sants Hotel which was a lot of fun with a futuristic vibe, and perfect location if you're taking the train anywhere.

Hotels are great about accommodating families that can afford it, the problem is the disconnect between the cost of a suite and most families' travel budgets. People clamoring for an and to airBNB and less crowded cities really want a return to a time when travel was reserved for the rich

And why should it be a locals' problem whether or not you can afford to take your family abroad? No one has a fundamental right to cheap hotel options so that they can travel on vacation while locals who actually need to exist in a place need basic necessities like housing.

DP. No one has a fundamental right to cheap anything in a desirable section of a city. Neither the tourists nor the people who want to live there. There are economic forces working in both ways here. Go ahead and take Airbnb away, I don’t care. But the waitress who works at the cafe around the corner still won’t be able to afford to live there.

Right, this is what I am saying. If I am a landlord and changing 3K a month and everything is full why would I now charge 1K a month just because AirBnB is gone? I won't. However, I will now have more apartments open where I can charge 3K a month.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We always do hotels because I am very against airbnbs due to them ruining my former town and street! That being said, I do agree some hotels need to do better on accommodating families. In Barcelona we did get a great deal on two communicating rooms at the Barcelo Sants Hotel which was a lot of fun with a futuristic vibe, and perfect location if you're taking the train anywhere.

Hotels are great about accommodating families that can afford it, the problem is the disconnect between the cost of a suite and most families' travel budgets. People clamoring for an and to airBNB and less crowded cities really want a return to a time when travel was reserved for the rich

And why should it be a locals' problem whether or not you can afford to take your family abroad? No one has a fundamental right to cheap hotel options so that they can travel on vacation while locals who actually need to exist in a place need basic necessities like housing.

DP. No one has a fundamental right to cheap anything in a desirable section of a city. Neither the tourists nor the people who want to live there. There are economic forces working in both ways here. Go ahead and take Airbnb away, I don’t care. But the waitress who works at the cafe around the corner still won’t be able to afford to live there.

Affordable housing for locals far, faaaaar exceeds the needs of any tourist. Sorry.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I've always found Spanish people to be absolute pricks who are overly emotional about almost everything. Even when I was in Barcelona and Madrid 20+ years ago they were aholes and would give rude, lazy service. I've worked with a number of Spaniards over the years, and they were just truly awful people who were some of my worst colleagues of all time. One was extremely paranoid, rude, and overly emotional about every single thing and would constantly hurl false accusations of sabotage against almost everyone. Never like Spain or its people. Super rude, arrogant, and just flat out annoying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We always do hotels because I am very against airbnbs due to them ruining my former town and street! That being said, I do agree some hotels need to do better on accommodating families. In Barcelona we did get a great deal on two communicating rooms at the Barcelo Sants Hotel which was a lot of fun with a futuristic vibe, and perfect location if you're taking the train anywhere.

Hotels are great about accommodating families that can afford it, the problem is the disconnect between the cost of a suite and most families' travel budgets. People clamoring for an and to airBNB and less crowded cities really want a return to a time when travel was reserved for the rich

And why should it be a locals' problem whether or not you can afford to take your family abroad? No one has a fundamental right to cheap hotel options so that they can travel on vacation while locals who actually need to exist in a place need basic necessities like housing.

DP. No one has a fundamental right to cheap anything in a desirable section of a city. Neither the tourists nor the people who want to live there. There are economic forces working in both ways here. Go ahead and take Airbnb away, I don’t care. But the waitress who works at the cafe around the corner still won’t be able to afford to live there.

Affordable housing for locals far, faaaaar exceeds the needs of any tourist. Sorry.

Again, removing Airbnb is not going to magically create affordable housing.

[Anonymous]

I do wish hotels would offer more options for families. We've stayed in a couple of mid-priced hotels that had one queen bed and a set of twin bunk beds. This was perfect for a family of 4! I don't need a luxury suite, just beds for two kids who both kick and roll around in their sleep. If hotels offered that, I would gladly take it over an AirBnB.

As it is, we usually stay in hotels when we're in major cities, but it can be a pain. We usually have to get 2 rooms, and the hotels can't always assign connecting rooms (and we don't know until we get there). So when the kids were too young to sleep in a room by themselves on the other side of the hotel, we had to split up, one parent with one kid in Room A and the other parent and other kid in Room B.

We generally use Air Bnb if we can't find a hotel that'll work, usually in small towns or places like Smith Mountain Lake where they are mostly vacation homes anyway. But there are times when I've chosen an AirBnb over a hotel simply because the bed configuration works better for our family. If hotels would adjust their offerings to what people are looking for, maybe more people would choose to stay in hotels?

[Anonymous]

I don't understand. It's really not hard to travel as a family. In the 80s when we traveled, my dad would rent a hotel room with two double beds. My brother and I would sleep in one, and mom and dad in the other. It isn't that hard and we , along with millions of other families, were able to survive just fine on so many trips and family vacations for decades.

Destinations do not need to give every single family of 4 800+ sqft of temporary living space that might also have a kitchen. Get a queen + a pullout, two doubles, or a queen plus cots for the kids and make due. You'll live.