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Mass tourism protesters squirt water at Barcelona tourists

bbc.com

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Re: Mass tourism protesters squirt water at Barcelona tourists

#81

Post by AftHurrahWinch »

cpach wrote: post #18
hypeatei wrote: post #13

It's just some water, okay, but that seems wrong to disturb people minding their own business. Plus how do they know those are tourists and not native Spaniards?

Good question, and people who know Barcelona better might chime in to correct me, but if it was a restaurant on La Rambla it’s probably a high chance that there where mostly tourists there.

You can see 2 seconds into the video that the people getting sprayed with water are eating at a Taco Bell. Geoguessing, I think it's this Taco Bell: https://maps.app.goo.gl/GqhrRobgQx6XUATo9

Re: Mass tourism protesters squirt water at Barcelona tourists

#82

Post by cpach »

AftHurrahWinch wrote: post #81
cpach wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good question, and people who know Barcelona better might chime in to correct me, but if it was a restaurant on La Rambla it’s probably a high chance that there where mostly tourists there.

You can see 2 seconds into the video that the people getting sprayed with water are eating at a Taco Bell. Geoguessing, I think it's this Taco Bell: https://maps.app.goo.gl/GqhrRobgQx6XUATo9

To each their own, but IMHO it’s kind of sad that people make the trouble of going to another country and then end up dining at Taco Bell.

Re: Mass tourism protesters squirt water at Barcelona tourists

#83

Post by anon373839 »

theteapot wrote: post #51
lemoncookiechip wrote: post #16

There's two sides to this story. Claiming that tourism is just a negative is just plainly wrong: [1] 2021: Barcelona started to recover, recording direct tourist spending of €3.7 billion with 4.5 million visitors. This marked a significant improvement as the city began reopening and international travel resumed. [2] 2023: Tourists in Barcelona spent €9.6 billion in 2023, up 14.7% from 2019 More than 12 million people…

There's winners and losers behind any aggregate economic statistic like GDP and the ones you cite. I think that should be obvious. Do you think those people with the water pistols are winning?

Honestly, they could be. Their feelings of aggression are not evidence of a factual basis for them.

I actually think this is better examined not as winners-losers, but costs-benefits, because most people will be experiencing both the “winning” side and the “losing” side simultaneously.

Re: Mass tourism protesters squirt water at Barcelona tourists

#84

Post by AftHurrahWinch »

cpach wrote: post #82
AftHurrahWinch wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can see 2 seconds into the video that the people getting sprayed with water are eating at a Taco Bell. Geoguessing, I think it's this Taco Bell: https://maps.app.goo.gl/GqhrRobgQx6XUATo9

To each their own, but IMHO it’s kind of sad that people make the trouble of going to another country and then end up dining at Taco Bell.

Agreed, and it is a microcosm of the discussion in this thread (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40908142) about who benefits from tourism spending.

Perhaps if people were spending €8 at Abuela Rosa's Tortas instead of €6 at Taco Bell, a Yum! Brands experience brought to you by TriBrands Global the locals would be more welcoming.

Re: Mass tourism protesters squirt water at Barcelona tourists

#85

Post by mzz80 »

llamaimperative wrote: post #78
dtboogie wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All the waiters and tour guides can't just re-train as semi-conductor technicians. Even given time, it's not obvious that Barcelona or Spain has the necessary pre-conditions to be globally competitive in another industry that would bring in the same amount of dollars per capita. It's an extremely ambitious, all-hands-on-deck type of national undertaking to shoehorn your way into something. Japan did it with auto-manu…

Uhh right, which is why allowing your economy to become a tourism-dependent monoculture is not good.

You can argue on the basis of principles that tourism is bad. The fact remains that tourism cannot be stopped cold-turkey without massive job loss as seen during covid. If you wish to stop tourism and preserve the well being of the people that depend on its income, then you need a plan for what replaces tourism and how to re-skill your workforce. There’s clearly no such plan in place.

Re: Mass tourism protesters squirt water at Barcelona tourists

#86

Post by llamaimperative »

mzz80 wrote: post #85
llamaimperative wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Uhh right, which is why allowing your economy to become a tourism-dependent monoculture is not good.

You can argue on the basis of principles that tourism is bad. The fact remains that tourism cannot be stopped cold-turkey without massive job loss as seen during covid. If you wish to stop tourism and preserve the well being of the people that depend on its income, then you need a plan for what replaces tourism and how to re-skill your workforce. There’s clearly no such plan in place.

I'm not arguing that tourism is bad, nor am I arguing for cold turkey cessation.

Re: Mass tourism protesters squirt water at Barcelona tourists

#87

Post by throwawa14223 »

itsoktocry wrote: post #11
mytailorisrich wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This does not justify attacking peaceful people who are minding their own business and having dinner. In fact, in my jurisdiction this would be common assault. Also, "rich tourists"... On the contrary. The number of tourists across Europe has exploded because very cheap flights and available and cheap accommodation means that, for instance, spending a couple of days in Barcelona has become extremely cheap and afforda…

> This does not justify attacking peaceful people Sure, but you could say this about every form of protest. > On the contrary. Poor people are not spending two days in Barcelona on a whim.

All protest that involves people who wish not to be involved is fundamentally immoral.

Re: Mass tourism protesters squirt water at Barcelona tourists

#88

Post by olyjohn »

cpach wrote: post #82
AftHurrahWinch wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can see 2 seconds into the video that the people getting sprayed with water are eating at a Taco Bell. Geoguessing, I think it's this Taco Bell: https://maps.app.goo.gl/GqhrRobgQx6XUATo9

To each their own, but IMHO it’s kind of sad that people make the trouble of going to another country and then end up dining at Taco Bell.

What if they don't have Taco Bell where they are from? Do you have to eat out at bespoke mom and pop restaurants for every single meal just because you're a tourist? Sometimes you might just want to grab something fast on the way because you don't want to spend your entire vacation sitting in restaurants.

Re: Mass tourism protesters squirt water at Barcelona tourists

#89

Post by UtopiaPunk »

hypeatei wrote: post #13

It's just some water, okay, but that seems wrong to disturb people minding their own business. Plus how do they know those are tourists and not native Spaniards?

"seems wrong to disturb people minding their own business."

I suspect the protestors feel like they are the ones being disturbed.

Re: Mass tourism protesters squirt water at Barcelona tourists

#90

Post by viridian »

sorwin wrote: post #32

Sounds like these protestors should never go on vacation anywhere else either. Stay in your home city your entire life.

In my experience, most people who work in tourist destinations can't afford to travel for vacation. Do you think the average Costarricense or Resident of Cancun is taking yearly trips abroad on a wage of under $5/hour?
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