Travelling to where people might not be happy to see us

Trust me, there are still plenty of places in and around Barcelona where we can escape the tourists ;)

Of course, certain places at certain times will be crowded, however I think the image of Barcelona being totally overrun by hordes of tourists is definitely played up in media, nonetheless it is important to maintain a sustainable tourist infrastructure through effective and enforced regulations. For example requiring a H.U.T. license for a short term rental listing through Airbnb.

@ martin.toohey, based on the way you posed your question, I think that you would be welcome (at least as welcome as anyone) in these places. I think the people who live there, even those who have "had enough" of tourists, mostly object to insensitive, clueless, "ugly foreigner" types in excessive numbers. It doesn't sound like you fall into that bucket.

Be respectful, tread lightly, don't treat the place like it's an amusement park, don't act as if its inhabitants were placed there purely for your entertainment -- basically, be a "good guest" -- and I don't think you will have much to worry about. Basic manners go a long way anywhere.

It is the right thing to do. Nothing stays to same. It is kind of like gentrification or the end of rent control in Manhattan or the leader of a country that does not want to step down even when there is a fair election.

There are even older travelers bourgeoisie here that complain about certain places that are now mobbed with tourists not considering the world population of people that can afford to travel is constantly growing and seem to look forward to the demise of low cost transatlantic travel. It use to be it seems a real status thing to be able to go Europe I guess.

Also many locals in Barcelona will also be on holiday in July/August (we can be tourists too lol)

Thank you for the rapid, useful replies! Scythian - to answer your question we are going in summer because it's when we can take our leave.

“Be a good guest!” Words to live by for all of us.

We lived in Rome, a very touristed city, but tourists that were respectful were not a bother. We helped when asked, engaged in conversation with interesting people, and walked the other way from large crowds and obnoxious individuals.

We now live in a coastal community that swells by 400% on some weekends and most of August. This community lives on tourism so the price of enjoying February is putting up with August. As long as people are polite, they are welcome! Your attitude tells me you will be welcomed.

I don’t like it when people don’t like you simply because you’re from the U.S. Since they don’t like something the government did, or some policy, they don’t like you. That has only happened a couple times.

I just came back to my hotel for a short rest (and a "comfort stop") after spending the morning with Enric. One of the topics of discussion was that Barcelona's considering limiting cruise ships. The problem isn't the tourist who comes to the city, stays in a hotel or B&B and eats, drinks, and maybe buys some souvenirs. Rather it's the thousands who descend on the city for a few hours, cramming the streets, a very few sights, and the cafes at lunchtime (when working locals have a limited time for their meal). Also the ships pollute the harbor.

It's off-season now, so hotel prices are more reasonable and there aren't as many tourists as there will be in a couple of months. It's a wonderful city to visit (this is my 3rd) and everyone is friendly and welcoming.

Venice is in a similar situation, except the cruise ships cause more damage to the city. I haven't been there in summer, but I have been there during Carnevale when it's really crowded. Even then, the early mornings and evenings were magical, and if you venture away from the Grand Canal, you can find peace and quiet and lots of charm just a few minutes' walk off the main drag.

First things first..., and I don't want to sound rude, but in most of the big destinations, namely Paris or Barcelona among others, you are NOT supporting "the economy", you're contributing indeed, no matter in how a small part, but the vast majority of locals rely on other industries. In the case of my hometown, from biotech to automotive to technology to banking or food manufacturing among other industries. So, a misplaced attitude that "they rely on my money" is a sure bet for you to be portrayed as arrogant and be disdained. To put some figures to facts: it's estimated tourism contributes 18% to the GDP of Paris, 14% to Barcelona's or 12% to Venice's -a simple online search to official sources will yield you more detail if you wish. So, while it's an important chunk, it's not, by far, decisive in the sustenance of these cities.

Secondly, "significant movement" means "a lot", and that's not the case anywhere I know of in major destinations in Europe. There are indeed locals complaining about major disruptions to everyday life and city halls implementing regulations to minimize the impact of too many visitors... but that's a long way away from having a "significant movement towards curbing tourism".

About locals: in general terms, and this is quite a human trait, one is generally proud to share one's way of life, heritage and culture with people from elsewhere. This is so true in Europe as it is in the US or in China to put three examples. In the same way, curiosity is a very human trait, and this is one of the reasons we travel: to discover. The mix of both attitudes, sharing and discovering, has been the basis to the flourishment of the tourism industry everywhere. Let's make no mistake if "visitors" wouldn't want to explore and discover there would be no tourism, but if "locals" wouldn't be willing to share, tourism would not develop in an area either -as it's the case in certain places.

Human interaction is a complex issue, and while the vast majority of travellers tend to be respectful when at someone else's home, and most locals accommodate to the expectations of the visitors, sometimes the sheer number of them causes major disruptions to residents, especially in certain parts of the city.

There are also local people not understanding that they're also "tourists" when they travel abroad and they complain at the minor annoyance and last, but not least, there are tourists that behave in an uncivilized manner just because they're not home, in many cases, they wouldn't dream to do so back home.

Like many other things in life, a balance has to be achieved, otherwise, paradise becomes hell, for both, those visiting but most importantly those living there too. And, as pointed by fellow posters above: "be a traveller, not a tourist" :))

-PS: Shalom Chani :)

Also another significant contributor to industry in Barcelona are trade shows and fairs, we have quite good infrastructure for large scale gatherings of this sort, the most notable example is the Mobile World Congress, which is held in Barcelona annually, it's the largest mobile phone congress in the world.

Enric I suggest you reread my post, you seem to have misinterpreted my words. 'Many locals benefit economically from tourism' isn't a claim that Barcelona's economy is heavily reliant upon tourism. As for 'some significant movement towards curbing tourism', obviously there are many local people who feel this needs to be done. I've read about it on several occasions in different publications and I live 1000's of kilometres away, so it is obviously significant enough to have caught the eye of several foreign journalists..

Sorry, if you feel I misinterpreted :)

I enjoyed European travel more before the cruise craze of the last decade.

Enric no problem I appreciate your reply. I'm sure we see things the same way in many respects. I just felt that it was misreading my position to imply that I felt that tourism was the critical part of the economy or that I was supporting THE economy by my presence. I've taught economics for years and I know it isn't the case, I hope others do too. I was just making the point that some locals do benefit from tourism (most obviously economically) so it isn't just a matter of people coming in and plundering these beautiful places! I found the statistics you provided very interesting.

... thanks for your post, Martin. Unfortunately, more often than one might think, one can hear (misconceived) views from supposedly educated visitors whose attitudes denote a total ignorance of facts and a subtle, albeit intolerable, level of arrogance. I apologize if I was "taken by the spur of the moment" into thinking the underlying intent of the original post went in that line. As you know, some of us in the forum, happen to live and/or been born in these ill-intendedly called "tourist magnet cities" and we've seen it all and hear it all, so on certain matters, when touching a nerve, we do appear to have a thinner skin than others :))

Try to behave like a traveller and not a tourist,

What's that supposed to mean? Are 'travellers' different to 'tourists'?

I find it amusing that some people hold a view that being a 'traveller' is superior to being a 'tourist', it's a snobbery thing but there's no difference. If you're visiting a place to explore it then you're a tourist. You can be a good tourist or a bad tourist but you'll still be a tourist, why some people think being a tourist is something negative is beyond me.

Interesting analysis Bill.

What's that supposed to mean? Are 'travellers' different to 'tourists'?

Well, it's not intended to be "snobbery" or to classify "above or below"... it's a way to distinguish between people's attitudes when visiting a place, for some it's a sort of like a themepark for their own rejoice and gratification (with all that entitles), for others it's someone else's home they're visiting (with all that entitles); for some is "entitlement" and "selfishness" for others is "respect" and "appreciation"; for some is constant nagging and complaining, for others is adapting. First approach: best kept for business-run resorts... no risk there of annoying locals ruining your vacation.

Just that.

Grant you though, there's no Webster Merriam official definition (yet) so we might accept as well "good tourist" and "bad tourist" :))

@Emma.... http://bit.ly/2WoBw50 :)))

Who is a local in Barcelona? I just came back from a lovely 3.5 day weekend there. Most of the time I was alone and tried to engage in conversation with people I met. From the accents (in English), it was plain that most were not native Spanish speakers and I thought they were all tourists like me, only to discover that nearly all I met were long-time residents of Barcelona, from Ireland, Bulgaria, El Salvador to name a very few. I had the same experience the week before on the Cote d'Azur.

Chani, as you bring up, Barcelona (along with others Madrid/Paris/Berlin) are all diverse cities, each with neighbourhoods that reflect that diversity. For example, in Barcelona we have El Raval, which is a neighbourhood where one finds South America, Pakistani, and Romania immigrant communities. The Iñárritu film, Biutiful (2010), uses El Raval as a backdrop.

Back to your original question of "who is a local?", I would say that a local person is someone with the ability to vote and/or civically engage in the community they currently reside in, for the betterment (or not) of said community.

As a resident of a major city I think it's a bit hard to "get to know locals" when you are on vacation. Unless you are on public transport in the morning or night, many locals are at work during the day and other than shop workers/waiters the only other people you'll meet are other tourists. Not to mention many Spanish still feel that their English is not up to par. As I understand, unlike many other countries, they learn the majority of the language in secondary school. Plus like many of us learning a language, they are a bit embarrassed to use it. I've found many Spanish people know a bit of English but are embarrassed and say their English isn't very good, when in fact it's as good as my Spanish.

Finally, some people are just putzes. We've all seen the videos of Anglophones screaming at others to speak English or not helping them in shops. There are rude people all over who hate their lives and want to make others miserable. I try not to take it personally and move on.

Re Venice, there are very few true locals left, at least as far as the islands containing the 6 sestrieres are concerned. But the Commune of Venezia also includes the mainland districts of Mestre, Marghera, Tessara, where most of the old residents have moved to. So for the island districts I would say are more like 80% tourist dependent. But the mainland districts involve ship building, oil refining, heavy manufacturing, so the 15% tourist GDP for the entire commune sounds about right.

In Venice the following people will be happy to see you, hotel employees, restaurant owners, shops, gondoliers, tour guides. So that means just about everybody. I'll hold back on the vaporetto crews, who just seem to be exasperated most of the time.

I dislike the word "tourist" , I prefer "guest". I cannot ever remember a time that I have been treated rudely in all my travels. I am always thankful they have allowed me to visit their home and learn about their culture. It sounds like you are of the same thought process. I do not think you will have any problems.