mikelg

I´ve been to Barcelona for some personal issues for 4 days, and have had the chance to walk to the most and the least known places. My overall impression, coming from a much less visited area, is of astonishment at the incredible amount of tourists in town (being in late September, I can imagine the amount of tourists in August). I´ve just walked without a specific purpose, and Barcelona is, truly, a great place to visit. Things I didn´t like were all related to the massive tourism and how everything was written in English and how even the tiniest restaurant in El Born, Barri Gotic or Barceloneta was tourist oriented. Not much to criticize, though...I´d do the same thing if I were the owner of the place. In any case, a beautiful city, very much oriented to tourism, with a lot of things to do, see and enjoy, a wonderful weather (it rained all Saturday, though...) and with still a lot of flavor and uniqueness, despite the tourist invasion. One thing: I could not stand the 40 or 50 orientals that approached me on the beach offering "masaje, massage, massage, masaje..."

For someone coming from Bilbao, where massive tourism has not yet arrived (and I doubt it will ever do), I felt like a hillbilly going to capital city for the first time...But truly enjoyed the city.

danon

There are many areas of Barcelona where you would not see many
tourists and where the menus are not in English.
In a few days you had, like most visitors , you had no time to explore more than just the very center of Barcelona.
We visited Bilbao a few year ago...it was the end of Sept., but it seemed like many tourists came to see the Museum.I believe the number is about a million a year.

lincasanova

Barcelona has been the busiest cruise port in Europe for some years now. Millions of additional tourists visit Barcelona every year this way, either catching, or just returning from, or staying in port on a cruise. Sometimes 10 ships arrive at once in high season.

There has been very effective marketing and arrangements made to powerful companies to entice the ship owners to extend their services into the fall and early winter.

Barcelona certainly is buzzing. This is also one of the aspects that so many people like, besides all of its natural beauty, architecture and gastronomy.

mikelg

Correct, danon. I stayed in Cornellá, far from the tourist crowds. It was just a short note to express a "wow" at the impressive number of foreigners in town, moreover in the most known attractions. Compared to Bilbao (and both cities are not comparable, IMO), I did feel a bit shocked.

I travel for work about 10 days per month to places all over the world, so I´m used to big cities and touristic places...it´s just that the number of tourist in Ramblas, for example, was overwhelming.

mikelg

(I should add that I´ve been to Barcelona a few times, it´s just that this time I found it quite crowded. A beautiful city, I must insist)

zeppole

You know, I think if someone had asked me: "Can you think of a Spanish that has worked as hard as Barcelona to attract tourists?" -- I think I might have fanswered: "Bilbao" - strictly on the strength of the Guggenheim.

But Barcelona has for a long time been used as cheap sunny destination for the UK in particular, but also many other rainier Northern countries. I guess cheap air flights and a preference for more urban tourism and shopping (as opposed to plopping on a beach) have really upped the numbers. I dread the train ride from the airport into the city center if I'm arriving on a Friday, because the weekend holidaymakers tend to be a boorish bunch who start partying the minute they get on the plane.

Where I live on the Mediterranean, we have immigrant vendors on the beach, selling beachy items like sunglasses and such. Nobody offering massages, but maybe that is an Asian specialty. Plus Barcelona has a more of the feel of a New Orleans or a Tijuana, where people come to be looser than they would be at home. Beachgoers here are very tolerant of the immigrants, and some of the regular vendors have made friends with some of the local shop owners and cafe owners. I think there is just more of sense that these people come from desperately poor places, or maybe its some overlay of Catholic charity. Or maybe because so many Italians still have a living memory of mass emigrations out of Italy, driven by poverty.

oopsy

It can seem difficult to get away from an English menu in many parts of the city, but as you and danon both point out, it does happen away from the main tourist areas. I had several meals this past May (my second trip) where I had to work my way through Catalan menus. Most tourists just won't get to those spots since they have only budgeted enough time in the city for the main sites. During this past two week trip of mine, I also found spots in the old city that felt local and far away from the tourist rush. It made me appreciate the Barri Gòtic in a new way.

I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. BTW, after my two weeks in Barcelona, I spent two days in Bilbao. I absolutely loved it there and will definitely return some day for a longer period of time.

ribeirasacra

The BBC reported this back in July this year:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programme...ck/9533632.stm

mikelg

just the way I felt, ribeira...

ribeirasacra

I went to BCN a few years ago and honestly say I did not get the feeling I ws overwhelmed by visitors. Maybe because I went during Christmas/new year period.
I loved the city, and I am not a city person in general.

Egbert

My overall impression was of overwhelming tourists. San Sebastian may be like that someday too.

danon

The " feel" of the city like Barcelona may depend on the time of the year and part of the city one
spendS time in.

Our first visit to Barcelona was in mid October , we stayed in residential area of Les Cortes for a week.
We loved the city. and came back every year since.
People who visit in the middle of the summer for three days around Ramblas
may come away with a different impression.
The same probably applies to other cities popular with tourists.

Cowboy1968

Also got back from BCN today.
Reason why there had been more than average tourists in the city had been the Mercè festivities last weekend. Lots of things going on in the city, from the famous correfoc (fire run) to dozens of free open-air concerts all over town.
The "masaje, masaje" calls are indeed a hallmark of the city beaches LOL

Maybe BCN attracts a different crowd than Madrid or Sevilla where also more mature/older tourists go because of the museums, culture and fine dining, lots of 20 or 30somethings simply hop on a €30 flight for a few days in BCN for the vibe.

And you probably can't hold the Catalans ability to learn and speak foreign languages against them. After all, English is not only used to communicate with Brits or Americans but also with the "rest" of tourists from Germany, Holland, Scandinavia and so on...