A tourist has accused a Barcelona local of ‘purposely ruining people’s travel photos’ after they’ve spend hundreds of pounds to visit the beautiful country.
Traveller Kylie, who is known as @continetal.ky on TikTok, has shared a ‘downside’ to travelling to the Spanish city, which is popular honeymoon destination.
In her video, she shows herself standing in front of Barcelona’s Arc de Triomf surrounded by other tourists enjoying the view.
However, she points out a man standing in front of the middle of the archway, making it near impossible for her to take a photograph of the monument without him appearing in it.
She said: “We’re at the Arc de Triomf in Barcelona and you know how they’re been hating on tourists… I’m pretty sure this guy is standing here to purposely be in the way of people’s photos.
“He has been standing here for 10 minutes since we got here – not moving, he’s not with anyone. He’s 100% just standing here to be in the way of people’s photos.”
Commenting on her clip, some defended the man’s actions.
One responder said: “Yes, we in Europe’s main cities are done with tourism. Our cities have been destroyed by tourism. The local economy suffers from it because local shops were replaced by tourists shops.”
And another remarked: “I’m in Barcelona right now and honestly I don’t blame him for peacefully protesting. I have seen some wild and disrespectful tourist behaviour.”
However, others thought the act was incredibly rude and petty. One said: “Everyone should boycott Barcelona. It’s not that great anyway unless you like having your pocket picked. Let them see how they get on without tourists for six months.”
And another argued: “Everyone’s going other country’s and Greece this year it’s beautiful with friendly people that appreciate tourism, you can’t have a tourism based economy and then complain about people choosing to visit.”
It comes after anti-mass tourism protests broke out across Spain. For months, locals have been taking a stand against soaring rents and lack of affordable homes.
Protesters have even spray painted their own heritage sites with explicit messages to express their outrage, with some translating to “f***ing tourists” and “get out of our city” in English.
One of the buildings attacked is the Royal Palace of La Almudaina, which dates back to the 14th century, and is the official residence of the King and Queen during their stays in Majorca. Together with the Cathedral of Palma it is a landmark of the capital of the Balearic Islands.
Historic stone walls near the s’Hort del Rei botanical gardens and Dalt Murada, a beautifully restored manor house, have also been targeted.
The area is visited by thousands of tourists who say they are shocked by the viciousness of the messages, while some official tour guides have reiterated the fury.
Tour guide company Pro Guías Majorca said that the grafitti is regretful and an attack on the heritage of Palma, making it clear that “there are many ways to protest, as long as the forms are appropriate, and it is an inalienable right. But this is unforgivable.” They say that the person “who has done this, is against himself and the values that constitute us as a community”.
Although the majority of visitors would not be able to read the Catalan messages, it is obvious that the huge red and blue slogans are anti-tourists and will cost a substantial amount of money to clean off.
Local residents, who have got used to repeated demonstrations and protest marches against mass tourism, have also taken to the social networks to condemn the vandalism.
“I am against excess tourism but also against graffiti. One thing does not take away from the other,” said one.
Another posted: “Now it turns out that Majorca’s number one enemy is the tourist, without thinking that hundreds of thousands of people eat every day thanks to tourists. This should also be considered a hate crime.”