Impact of Spanish Financial Crisis to Travel

I don't think that you will notice much difference unless there is rioting in the streets as in Greece. After all, California is insolvent and traveling around seems to be the same. We were in Barcelona last September and you couldn't tell that there was any problems with the country.

I see no impact other than the Euro being cheaper. And strikes must be more frequent depending on certain situations but we have never worried strikes because they are ways to work around them. My personal philosophy is to only worry about things I can control and adjust to the rest.

I was also in Barcelona last September (stalking Larry) and it seemed just fine. I enjoyed the fact that is was much less expensive than staying in Paris. If you do run into protests, which is unlikely, don't get involved. It's a big city, so just go to another area. When I was in Paris last October (still stalking Larry) we ran into a protest at the Bastille. What was really interesting was they had a beer table set up, and people seemed more interested in drinking than protesting!

I would not worry about the crisis for a moment. Luckily the high numbers of unemployed youth are only armed with spray paint. A very few years ago we encountered a large protest in Madrid. The Gran Via was lined with people on bicycles and carrying signs. It was very peaceful and the police followed the crowd. After thousands of protesters passed, the regular traffic resumed. While enjoying our stay in Barcelona we only saw one purse snatching - that could have happened in any other major city in the world. Enjoy your trip!

In a major tourist city like Barcelona, I think the only effect will be that travel is cheaper.
It's a fabulous place- enjoy!

We ran into a large protest in Puerta del Sol in Madrid in late 2009...it was a peaceful protest over proposals to privatize some of the social security system. That same night, however, there were more violent protests going on in Barcelona...people getting beaten with police batons kind of violent...watched it on the news. Anyway, while things are certainly more volatile now, I probably wouldn't recommend making any changes to your travel plans. Protests and strikes can happen anywhere...Madrid or Brussels...doesn't matter...they're usually short lived (like 1 day). You may have to work around that type of thing...maybe not. I would simply recommend paying attention to the news and avoiding areas where protesters normally gather...it's usually the same, predictable spots. The only way I wouldn't visit a place is if my own government or that of the place I'm visiting recommended against it...highly, highly unlikely (it's not Somalia after all). A better exchange rate is awesome, but the flip side of what's happening in Europe right now is the impact to our own markets here (and your pension, 401k, college savings, whatever). Lots of folks had their travel plans seriously affected beginning in 2008 or so...hope we're not headed back in the wrong direction now.

Jack, don't worrry...be happy! We were in BCN last June when they were protesting and camping out in Placa Catalunya, right up the street from our hotel. It was not a problem at all. Jack, even if there are protests, you don't have to stand in the middle of the protest; they can do their thing and you can do yours. We have been in the middle of EU protest marches( can be lots of fun!), train strikes, etc. and have never felt not safe. Buy some trip insurance. (Find some on Squaremouth.com) If the worst happens (there is a 99% chance nothing will) you will be covered, and can change your plans.

It might be a good time to go. I saw on the news that tourists are staying away. Hotels have dropped their prices. And the Euro is dropping to our advantage.
Best of luck.

Timely article on this:
http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2012/05/cheap_spanish_vacation_the_euro_euro_is_keeping_spain_way_too_expensive_for_tourists_.html

Really not much. Everyone is affected by the crisis, so they appreciate your business at least as much, if not a little more, than before the crisis. The pickpockets were surprisingly active for the shoulder season in Madrid, but we didn't notice anything bad in Barcelona earlier in April. Hotels may have lighter bookings. We booked rooms on the move during our April trip this year. I prepared a list of places to call at each stop. In all but one case we were able to book a room on the first call, at a very good price. The one difficult case was Granada for three nights. Our first choice was full, our second choice had a room for two nights but promised to figure something out for the third night. Our third choice was open, but turned out to be not that great. We ended up at our fourth choice, which was great for us (just a little less convenient to make four calls and waste a stop at one place rather than just one call).