Mass tourism is ruining Barcelona and turning it into a 'theme park', claims controversial new documentary

Overrun: Barcelona locals claim that mass tourism is ruining their city

Mass tourism is ruining Barcelona and turning it into a 'theme park', claims controversial new documentary

By SARAH GORDON

PUBLISHED: 13:36 GMT, 22 April 2014 | http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2610312/Barcelona-ruined-mass-tourism-claims-documentary.html

Out-of-control tourism and over-commercialisation are ruining the city of Barcelona and turning it into a 'theme park', according to a new documentary.

Residents, tour guides and local tourism experts have spoken out against uncontrolled tourism, claiming it is destroying their city and community, in the controversial new documentary Bye Bye Barcelona.

Promoting the idea of taxing tourists more, limiting the number of people who can visit and avoiding cheap packages for the mass market, the documentary claims the city can no longer cope with such huge numbers of visitors each year.

Explaining why he made the documentary Eduardo Chibas writes on his website: 'Barcelona is not big metropolis, but it is the fourth-biggest tourism destination in Europe after three big capital cities, London, Paris and Rome. And it's port receives the largest number of cruise ships in Europe and the Mediterranean.

'Barcelona residents have seen how, in scarcely a decade, the number of tourists visiting has tripled and how the economy has turned towards the tourism sector to successfully exploit the city's heritage, constructed by previous generations.'

One interviewee compares Barcelona to Prague and Venice, claiming it is set to become a 'theme park'. Venice locals have long-protested out-of-control tourism which is turning the city into a ghost town as locals are priced out of their homes and businesses.

Photographer and author Marc Javierre compares Barcelona to cities like Paris, saying that it has lowered its prices too much and is therefore attracting the wrong kind of tourism. 

He says: 'As I understand it, mass tourism is a type of tourism that spend little money. It doesn't offer anything to the city, it even costs money for the city, and that report benefits for a small number of people in the city.'

He adds: 'People come here with 300 euro packages to spend seven days in Barcelona.'

In response to the 'crisis' caused by mass tourism to Barcelona, Santiago Tejedor, co-director of Masters in Travel Journalism at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, suggest limiting the number of tourists who can visit the city.

Taking the examples of Inca ruins Machu Picchu in Peru and Mayan ruins Chichen Itza in Mexico, Tejedor suggests that Barcelona could to the same.

He explains: 'Sometimes more is less and in the mid to long term we should think in a new model that can have a more positive effect.'

Last year, Barcelona surpassed 7.5million tourists in 12 months for the first time in its history, with France, followed by the UK and then the US, topping the list of nationalities visiting the city.

However, Barcelona has also earnt a reputation as the street crime capital of Europe, with pickpocketing and bag snatching a common complaint among visitors.

Last year, Antoni Gaudi's Parc Guell, which was meant as a gift to the people of Barcelona, started charging for entry and numbers were limited to 800 a day - a decision that has angered local residents who claim the park is a municipal facility.

However, not everyone agrees with the documentary.

Viewer Jes Ter, on YouTube, argues: 'It is not the tourists' fault if your government spends more money on cheap tourism and not cultural tourism, so why blame the tourists... the same people who keep your economy healthy in these difficult times?'