Barcelona to Crack Down on Tourism

Last spring during a walking tour in the Gotic the guide was nervous about making sure the group didn't block the alley or sidewalk when she stopped to show us something, and while I had her aside for a moment she said that one of the neighborhood associations, like those mentioned in the article you cite, Frank II, had been getting complaints from elderly ladies in the apartments above our heads that they were having trouble doing their shopping and errands in the morning because tourists were making it hard to pass.

It's a problem like hiking trails -- everyone wants to go off the trail and see the untrammeled wilderness, but that means the wilderness gets trammeled that much more quickly. I keep saying that 15 minutes on the Ramblas or the Champs Elysee is 10 minutes too much, but if everyone acts accordingly, then the whole district gets ruined instead of just the main drags.

Talk to residents in Salem, Massachusetts (if you can get them to talk) and they will say the same thing about daytrippers and weekenders turning the town into a Witchery toy store. Ditto the Heritage marketing in Great Britain...