Mayor Jaume Collboni also said he would be targeting the licences for more than 10,000 apartments currently on short-term lets in the city, with a full ban on tourist flats by 2028.
On a daily average, a whopping 200,000 people visit La Rambla, the city’s main promenade, causing rubbish bins here to be emptied 14 times a day.
Xavier Mas de Xaxàs, writer for the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia, believes Barcelona “has been stolen from him” with the city being so “overwhelmed by mass tourism.”
He told The Guardian: “Tourism accounts for 14 percent of the city’s GDP, employs about 150,000 people and generates almost €12.75bn annually.
“But receiving 32 million tourists in a city of just 1.6 million residents also places a huge burden on the municipal budget. Barcelona’s city hall estimates the extra financial cost in security, public transport, maintenance, and cleaning at €50m.
“Tourism attracts more drug trafficking, petty crime, and sex work, all of which has an impact on a city’s character. Local shops are often replaced by tourist-oriented businesses.
“A few weeks ago, the last bookshop in the seaside district of La Barceloneta closed down. It was replaced by a cannabis shop.
“There are now 25 cannabis shops in Barcelona, mainly in the old part of town, the most heavily touristed. It’s an example of how difficult it is to preserve the city’s original social and economic fabric.”
