Barcelona cannot absorb infinite tourism growth, needs curbs, mayor says
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Barcelona cannot absorb infinite tourism growth, needs curbs, mayor says
BARCELONA (Reuters) - Barcelona cannot absorb an ongoing, unbridled growth in the number of tourists and has to impose restrictions so as not to become a "theme park" without residents, the mayor of Spain's most visited city by foreigners told Reuters on Tuesday.
Last month, Barcelona pledged to shut all short-term lets by 2028 to contain soaring rental prices for residents. And earlier this month, images of an anti-tourism protest went viral after a few protesters used water guns to spray tourists amid growing rallies against mass tourism in Spain.
Socialist Mayor Jaume Collboni said he would continue efforts to limit the offer since he can't influence demand, which he said estimates show is infinite and could grow between 3% and 8% a year, which "no city could absorb".
"If you have a theatre with a 300-seat capacity, you cannot sell 500 (tickets) even if you have 200 people queuing... Everything has a limit," Collboni said in an interview at his office, its walls adorned with a Joan Miro painting and with a picture of U.S. gay rights icon Harvey Milk on his desk.
Last year, some 26 million tourists visited the 1.6-million city, where tourism accounts for 15% of its economy, and officials are bracing for a potentially record 2024.
"Tourism needs to be serving the city's model, not the opposite.
That's what we are doing in Barcelona," Collboni added, expecting others to replicate the tourist apartments ban as he had been contacted by officials from other cities.
