Post-pandemic Spain: the good, bad, and ugly

The heat is on, from annoying to dangerous - Another major issue is the climate change. In years past you could get away with summer tourism in Spain, just needed to take it slow drink water, and stay in the shade. Now is different, instead of the heat just being annoying, it has become downright dangerous in most of the country (outside of Green Spain). Temps are 100+ F in much of the country for days on end. I don’t advise any tourism from 11:00 am to 5:00 pm during these high summer months. It is a serious issue that is getting worse every summer. The heatwaves have caused widespread drought in the country, prompting closures of several attractions, like the Magic Fountain in Barcelona.

Crime and Punishment – Petty crime continues to be an issue in Barcelona mostly, crime rates are on the rise and thieves are taking advantage are taking advantage of the overtourism. The crime is mainly targeted at tourists not so much local constituents, so the city government is not too incentivized to tackle the problem, tourists don't vote. As long as the tourist dollars keep coming in they don't care. Many of the local politicians no longer live in the city of Barcelona itself, but rather in nearby posh towns like Sant Cugat or Sabadell, so they don't have to personally worry about security. The politicians are also not tackling the crime problem for fear of looking too "heavy handed" or "authoritative" or "fascist". For example pickpockets in Barcelona face no jail time and minimal fines, even when caught, in one case a pickpocket was caught 87 separate times yet never faced punishment.

The Ugly

Trash and Construction - continue to be an issue, mostly in Barcelona now, with streets filthy and trash everywhere, especially in the old town. There is also a construction boom in Barcelona and half the city feels like there is construction being done on almost all the streets, for new bike lanes I have heard. Apparently, they want to make Barcelona the new Amsterdam. Not too long-ago Madrid’s Puerta del Sol was basically shut down for renovations and reconstructions. Very disruptive!

The old foe, Overtourism – In my neighborhood there used to be a rare sight to see a non-local, now I am hearing English, French, and German habitually. There are 90 cruises expected just in August in Barcelona. That’s roughly 270,000 extra people swamping the relatively compact Ciutat Vella (old town area) in a single month, more than double the 100k local population for the Ciutat Vella district. I am hearing less of Catalan in Barcelona. Much fewer Catalan regional flags flying out of people’s balconies compared to 3-4 years ago too. The trend of locals being pushed out by Airbnb and tourists continues. Mustered my courage and made a “safari” in the Barrio Gotico, never again! Absolutely swamped with tourists going every which way, with no local life in sight, has become a giant shopping mall. Public transportation is totally full and over-taxed, overflowing with tourists.

-continued below-

Modern Times, a comedy – now it is necessary to have a reservation for everything as a courtesy to the “bar/restaurant”, they put the reserved sign on all tables even if they are not actually reserved. I went to a paella restaurant in Barcelona without a reservation, it was a Monday mid-day so not a very busy time, the place was half empty. The waiter’s jaw almost dropped when I said I did not have a reservation and was visibly upset as we seated me and my friend at a terrible table with no room. We were uncomfortable and decided to leave then of course the waiter tried to stop us and said we could have any table in the house and quickly removed the reserved signs, but we left anyway. On a day trip to see some Roman ruins we stopped by early to have lunch at an unassuming paella restaurant near the sea, it was practically empty. The waiter told us they were no tables available, they were “booked” for the entire day. We looked around at the sea of empty tables as we were shooed out.

Similarly, cashier's mouths drop whenever I don’t use the contactless payment for every little thing, they are gobsmacked when I take out physical cash, and are like “are you sure??” and often have trouble figuring out how to do “change”.

Interestingly hamburgers have become the new hottest thing in Spain, it's hamburgers everywhere hamburger restaurants, hamburger advertisements, hamburgers to buy at the local grocery store. These hamburgers are not like the typical ones in the US but are "fancy" ones with odd flavors and pairings. Like a foie burger with camembert?? Have no idea why this trend of fancy hamburgers has emerged suddenly, but it's everywhere in Spain. So next time I guess you can leave the paella behind and get yourself a nice tasty foie burger 😂

Conclusion

Overall my return to Spain has been a mixed bag, the country has changed dramatically since the pandemic, with some positives and some negatives. In general, the service, quality, safety, and cleanliness are way down while the stress level felt in the street went to the roof. It is definitely best to spend time in the neighborhoods outside the main tourist areas for a breath of fresh air.

I was surprised by how much I liked the city of Valencia, it is now my new favorite large city in Spain, it's similar to the way Barcelona was decades ago, clean, welcoming, and habitable. Most recommended. Our visit to the lesser known Matarranya region was another breath of fresh air that confirms travels in deep Spain can be quite rewarding.

Thanks for your observations!

Thank you for this interesting report, Carlos. I love reports and reviews.

I will be cruising October from Southampton to Lisbon with three ports in Spain.

I believe that you are someone who advised me when I posted many questions in the Spain section of this forum. I am going to Bilbao, Vigo and La Coruna . ( have to go back and check spellings)

I am taking an excursion to Santiago from Vigo.

I believe that you are among the many who educated me about Spain most especially when it came to Caminos. When I was first posting under the Spain section, my only knowledge of Caminos was from the movie The Way. I thought there was only one Camino.

I plan to thank everyone under the Spain section before leaving home as well as updating during my travels and when I am once home again after my vacation and cruise.

I am spending 6 nights in London and one in Southampton before cruising. I will spend 4 nights in Lisbon post cruising so I will not just be taking a cruise.

Some of the problems that you mention in your report are happening everywhere that I have ever lived (Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco) or now live in Austin TX.

I believe that excessive and hard drug use is one of the problems.

One question: maybe I missed this but re the problem with garbage. Is it bringing rats?

I hope that you will keep your reports coming and I hope that you might continue to advise and educate me.

Thanks for the excellent synopsis of your perceptions of Barcelona. Can you shed a little more insight (or guesses) as to why a restaurant would turn away a potential customer while the tables are empty? What is the driving force for requiring reservations - is it to ensure predictably full tables but only during certain hours? I'm not sure why a restaurant would want to forgo revenue if someone just "shows up" unless they don't have adequate waitstaff or the chef on duty.

Also, what seems to be the waning support for locals partonizing and keeping authentic tapa bars in business to the point that tourism skews the entire industry toward a different model? Maybe this occurance is overrepresented in Barcelona (due to over tourism in that city) but hopefully not true elsewhere.

I'm so sorry to learn of all these issues. My husband and I love Barcelona; we've visited there 3 times, all pre-pandemic though. We went to lesser known areas of Spain on our last trip, post-pandemic. I often feel guilty about contributing to the over-tourism of some areas but we do our best to explore other regions.

Thank you for this report. Very informative.

Carlos, the same is happening in Croatia. Friends who live there can’t afford to go to the coast because the prices have more than doubled. We’ve been letting them stay at our place cause it is walkable to the beach. Also, American style hamburgers have also been appearing in restaurants. I guess it’s a New fad in Europe.

Very interesting to read. I would be interested in the same things as Agnes.

Carlos, thanks from me as well. It's always interesting to get a local view of things, good, bad and ugly!!

"when I take out physical cash, and are like “are you sure??” and often have trouble figuring out how to do “change”."

I think this is ubiquitous. Recently I gave a younger clerk a cash amount with coins added to it so she could give me back an even amount of bills and she was completely frazzled. Her manager stepped over and handled it. I didn't mean to rattle her. It was the beginning of the season (in Yellowstone) and it was clear she was new to the till but she could not figure it out.

The high-end hamburger thing is an import from the States, where it's been going on for two decades. Unfortunately, most places in Spain are still using overly-ground, previously-frozen, low-quality meat, which perpetuates the "why do Americans eat this crap" trope.

Thank you Carlos for your very informative report. I’m going to Spain next month and this has been very interesting. One great takeaway for me has been the suggestion to use “Freenow” to book car transport. Thank you!

Carlos very interesting, but might be more correct, Post-pandemic Barcelona.

Here in the provinces some of the changes have been different.

-More flavors to choose from yes, we have some more new cuisines (a quality Mexican and an Indian restaurant for example)

Grassroots innovations yes

The party continues yes. Summer is fiesta time in the pueblos, and they are going very strong this year. The battle of wine in Haro and the battle of Claret in San Asensio were full.

Getting around with a car yes, kind of. During the time of reduced mobility and traffic, and in an effort to make sidewalks less dense, the city hall here made a lot of changes to many streets to make them more pedestrian friendly. At the beginning, there were complaints, but now most people are happy with new streets. In general, it is now faster, easier, and nicer to walk, then go by car around town.

Food quality down, prices up no and a bit. We are lucky here to have lots of huertas around, and I haven't notice a quality problem. Prices are up here, but generally it is in line with the overall inflation.

The disappearance of the authentic tapas bar not at all. Several tapa/pintxo bars have changed hands, and may offer different pintxos, they are still "traditional".

The heat is on yes

Crime and punishment no, our crime rate is up a bit over 2019, but it is still pretty safe here.

Trash and Construction not an issue here.

The old foe, Overtourism not a problem. We have reached a point where there are more tourist apartments then hotel rooms. While cost of housing has gone up in Logroño, it is more an effect of traditional market forces. Of course the scale of tourism is totally different, there were about 1.3million tourist to La Rioja last year, and about 10% were international. Considering that Casa Rurals are very popular, and that we have poor train and bus connections, the tourist pressure is less here.

Modern Times a comedy no. I have not seen this with the "reserved" tables. This spring on the Wednesday before Easter, I was in a very small village, off any kind of regular path, where I had gone to buy some cheese for a shephard/cheese makder. While I was waiting for the shop to open I went to the one restaurant in the town. When I arrived it was empty, but they asked if I had a reservation. I said no, and they asked if I minded eating in the bar. I thought it was a bit strange, but okay. During my meal, families started coming in. Four here, six there, three over there, etc, etc. I was a bit stunned but when I left it was full. It seems that as the kids didn't have school, a lot of families were out for the day.

Haven't had any problem paying in cash, and in fact there are still a few tapa bars that are cash only, like my bakery.

Finally, my butcher makes those "gourmet" burgers. My favorite is a burger made with "secreto de cerdo" and the apple and chestnut burger.

Conclusion
Carlos I would say that effects the pandemic and the post pandemic have not been equal around Spain. As someone who lives in one of those deeper regions in Spain, I appreciate the shout out.

Hi all, apologies I was not able to check back in, was traveling :)

I believe that excessive and hard drug use is one of the problems. One question: maybe I missed this but re the problem with garbage. Is it bringing rats?

Hi Bostonphil - regarding drug use, Spain has had a relaxed drug policy for many years now. Barcelona has always been the most liberal part of Spain in this area. Although nowadays you see more people on drugs and acting erratically in publicly, and mostly in the Barrio Gotico and El Raval areas, there is a lot of narco trafficking in those parts now.

As for garbage, I've not seen any rats but it has led to an infestation of wild boars in the outskirts of the city, who scavenge for food when night falls, can be quite aggressive.

Can you shed a little more insight (or guesses) as to why a restaurant would turn away a potential customer while the tables are empty? What is the driving force for requiring reservations - is it to ensure predictably full tables but only during certain hours? I'm not sure why a restaurant would want to forgo revenue if someone just "shows up" unless they don't have adequate waitstaff or the chef on duty.

Hi Agnes, it seems illogical to me too but I guess it comes from a place of hubris and arrogance, reservations has become the norm even if it is not necessary, people without reservations are treated as second class. In Spain, waitstaff don't really care about the financial well being of the restaurant, unless it's a family establishment, they are not incentivized to go beyond the minimum.

Also, what seems to be the waning support for locals partonizing and keeping authentic tapa bars in business to the point that tourism skews the entire industry toward a different model? Maybe this occurance is overrepresented in Barcelona (due to over tourism in that city) but hopefully not true elsewhere.

While this has been more the case in the touristy cities in Spain - Madrid, Barcelona and Sevilla, the country in general has also seen this trend. The # of bars in Spain are down across the board while # of sit down restaurants are up (https://sivarious.com/gestion/la-evolucion-de-la-hosteleria-en-espana-hacia-menos-bares-y-mas-restaurantes-20221228-0410/)

The high-end hamburger thing is an import from the States, where it's been going on for two decades.

@Scudder - The hamburgers in Spain seem very different than the USA the ones I have seen. In Spain they seem more fancy with more high class ingredients, they seem to be taking it to an "art", trying to infuse Spanish culinary know-how. Even in MasterChef España one of the trials was to create a fancy "smash burger" using beef from Galicia. The winner of last years' MasterChef España recently opened a fancy hamburger restaurant in Barcelona.

@dlindstrom - Thanks for your perspective, I would say that Logroño is fairly insulated from macro economic trends in Spain, except when it comes to wine :)

Carlos, thank you very much for sharing your observations and perspectives! I really appreciate you sharing both the positives & negatives to keep us better informed.