‘We don’t want to be Venice’: Barcelona battles an influx of tourists

For supporters of the politician of Barcelona, a T-shirt speaks volumes. “It’s each Ada Colau’s fault,” reads the slogan printed connected the garment, with Yoko Ono’s sanction crossed out.

It’s a joke, of course, worn by the left-wing supporters of Colau (49), the politician of Barcelona since 2015, during the run up of this Sunday’s section election. It plays connected the thought that she has go not conscionable a scapegoat for the Catalan capital’s challenges – which see lodging problems, wide tourism and petty transgression – but a convenient hatred fig for definite residents.

Begona Gómez Urzaiz noted successful the Catalan paper La Vanguardia that determination was a “visceral, vitriolic” rejection of the politician which “is little to bash with her tenure and her governmental ideas than with her origins, her gender, the mode she talks and adjacent her hair.”

Nonetheless, successful a choky race, Colau could inactive unafraid a 3rd term. She has said that the T-shirt “refers to the campaign, including… fake news, that definite economical powers are waging against the city’s government”.

What cipher tin quality is that we didn’t travel present conscionable to bide our clip but to instrumentality a antithetic municipality model

She added: “There whitethorn beryllium radical who disagree with our ideas for the metropolis and that’s morganatic and normal. What cipher tin quality is that we didn’t travel present conscionable to bide our clip but to instrumentality a antithetic municipality model, much fair, much antiauthoritarian and feminist.”

When she archetypal took office, Colau was known arsenic an activistic alternatively than a politician. As Spain had reeled from the euro-zone crisis, galore younger radical took to the streets to protestation against austerity, corruption and a shortage of affordable housing. It was successful effect to the deficiency of affordable lodging that Colau became the astir salient fig successful the country’s anti-eviction movement, which would show against, oregon adjacent block, foreclosures of properties by banks erstwhile owners were nary longer capable to wage their mortgage.

That activism gave Colau a level from which to motorboat her palmy bid to go politician of Barcelona successful 2015 arsenic portion of a question of victories for Spain’s caller left. Her party, Barcelona En Comú, has governed the metropolis successful a conjugation that includes Podemos.

She took bureau connected a societal justness level that promised sweeping alteration for the city. However, the main problems Barcelona faces present are akin to those it confronted 8 years ago. As the summertime approaches, the wide influx of tourism is arguably the astir visible, though her medication insists that the concern has improved.

Clamping down

“Something we person managed to bash is to halt the city’s diminution [in this area],” Janet Sánchez, councillor for environment, municipality space, mobility and infrastructure successful metropolis hall, told The Irish Times. “We don’t privation to beryllium Venice.”

Tourists hold for taxis aft disembarking from a cruise vessel astatine Barcelona's harbour. Some 400,000 cruise passengers who disembark successful the larboard each period successful precocious season. Photograph: Pau Barrena/AFP via Getty Images

Measures taken person included closing down 6,000 unlicensed tourer flats and limiting the availability of edifice rooms successful definite areas of the city. If re-elected, Colau’s squad program to spell further, aiming to halve the 400,000 cruise passengers who disembark successful Barcelona’s larboard each period successful precocious season, portion clamping down further connected tourer flats and souvenir shops.

Crime has proved arsenic hard to manage. Barcelona continues to person a importantly higher transgression complaint than different ample Spanish cities. Meanwhile, a fierce statement implicit squatting has dragged attraction distant from Colau’s important societal lodging initiatives.

The statement implicit Catalan independency has hardly registered successful this campaign, a fortunate improvement for Colau, whose enactment for self-determination but not secession made her a people for some separatists and unionists successful the past

“The metropolis successful Colau’s caput is for pedestrians, it’s green, accessible and pro-cycling, inclusive, feminist, harmless and multicultural, participative but not polemical, educated but not elitist, unfastened but Catalan,” noted the writer Juan Soto Ivars. Describing her tenure arsenic “a costly yet invaluable experiment”, helium said: “She hasn’t destroyed Barcelona, nor has she near it immoderate worse than she recovered it.”#

On Sunday, determination and municipal elections volition beryllium held crossed Spain and the results successful areas specified arsenic Madrid and Valencia volition beryllium keenly watched due to the fact that of their imaginable value for nationalist politics.

However, Barcelona has its ain governmental microclimate, with Catalan nationalist parties playing a cardinal role. The statement implicit Catalan independency has hardly registered successful this campaign, a fortunate improvement for Colau, whose enactment for self-determination but not secession made her a people for some separatists and unionists successful the past.

With the populist close rampant successful Madrid, Barcelona remains a bastion of the ideals of the caller near that emerged astir a decennary agone but whose grip connected powerfulness has been slipping successful caller years.

Return to activism

Polls amusement Colau’s Barcelona en Comú successful a virtual three-way necktie with the Socialists, with whom she has governed until now, and the pro-independence conservatives of Together for Catalonia (JxCat). To stay office, the politician would again request the enactment of astatine slightest 1 different party.

[ Spanish parliament probes deep-state attempts to smear Catalan separatists ]

If re-elected, Colau has said she volition permission authorities aft different word to instrumentality to activism.

“When you’re progressive successful activism, you’re with radical who deliberation similar you and you don’t request to subordinate with those who don’t,” she said. “When you’re politician you person to subordinate with everyone.”