A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Sagrada Familia once experienced a huge influx of tourists. But with the Covid-19 pandemic gaining a foothold, the tourist population visiting the site has come down significantly. A person at the ticket counter said that same day tickets, which were rare in the past, have become a norm these days. Deutsche Welle.
Barcelona’s tourism landscape has changed significantly from pre-pandemic to post-pandemic eras. Before the pandemic the city hosted about 5 million visitors annually. Immigration numbers at Barcelona airport increased from 30 to 53 million between 2010 and 2019. In 2019, the city experienced a boom in the tourist population with a record number of 14 million.
However, the situation is no longer the same as before. DW quoted Manel Casals, director general of the Barcelona Hotel Association, as saying that the tourism industry has lost around €2.7 billion ($3.1 billion) since the pandemic began. He further said that 40% of hotels in the city have closed shop and the number of people staying in hotels has come down from 60,000 to 13,000.
Other allied businesses related to tourism have also suffered significant losses. A souvenir shop in front of the Sagrada Familia is running a clearance sale with each item costing €5. Jose Lorenzo, who has been running a small restaurant for the past 20 years, now only has one or two customers a day.
Not that all sections of society are happy with the booming mass tourism in Barcelona. The local people of the city were opposing this influx of foreigners in their city for a long time. He argues that hotels should be converted into social housing to address the problem of affordable housing for the city’s locals.
However, stakeholders of the tourism industry say that the criticism against mass tourism is not true. According to tourism director Javier Marse, the debate is “exaggerated”.
The tourism industry also has no intention of reducing the number of beds. However, now the permission for the stay of new tourists has been regulated. DW quoted Marse as saying that hotels should be upgraded so that prices go up and tourists come less.
However, Castle has a different solution. Instead of reducing the number of tourists, he said, more investment should be attracted so that “high-spending travelers don’t clog the streets of the historic center.”
The construction of the Sagrada Familia is being affected by the lack of tourists in Barcelona. The bulk of its funding is derived from ticket prices. With fewer tourists, the project will be postponed, which was to be completed on the 100th death anniversary of its architect, Antoni Gaudi.
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