Locals living in the popular Spanish city of Barcelona have complained that some drunk tourists are making loud screaming noises and trying to get into the wrong apartments.
Barcelona is one of several places around Spain that has seen rising anti-tourism sentiment with thousands taking to the streets in protest over the impact of over-tourism on the lives of local people.
Speaking to the Guardian, one woman, known as Alba, highlighted how tourists impacted her life and how tourism had changed the character of her neighbourhood.
She said that “drunk tourists” were “blocking the entrance to our building, smoking in our faces as we tried to exit, screaming like madmen until 2am”. She added that “Airbnb tourists” had mistakenly “tried to open our door at night”.
Alongside causing disruption, Alba said that the character of local areas was changing too, explaining: “In my neighbourhood there used to be an old ironmongery, a butcher, and many small businesses running for decades.”
Her comments come after Barcelona announced it was taking action and banning flat rentals to tourists by the year 2028 in response to anger from local residents.
This anger has seen residents take to social media platforms to highlight the issues and express their discontent at what has become of their beloved city. Writing on Reddit, one local said: “Barcelona has become an amusement park made for tourists.
“Everything’s overpriced, when you go to class or work you have to avoid distracted tourists who randomly stop to take a picture all the time of the day, week or year.”
Another local complained: “I was born and raised in Barcelona, but I no longer live there. I didn’t remember how bad it was until I went to visit my family last summer.
“Me and some friends went to walk around the centre and the girl that took our orders at Pans and Company (a Spanish bakery chain) didn’t even know Spanish or Catalan, only English.”
For some, the situation has become so bad they’ve been forced to leave their hometown for good. One local shared anecdotally: “A friend who lived in Barcelona all his life has just moved out of the city. He was living in the old part of the city and noise from tourist apartments in his building and the whole street was unbearable all year through.”