As the summer tourist season approaches, a perennial question arises: is a city for those who live there, or does it “belong” to the whole world?
The latest episode in this informal dispute comes from Barcelona. Bus No. 116 goes to Antoni Gaudí’s Park Güell, one of the city’s top tourist destinations. However, overcrowding in the neighborhood and on buses prompted the city council to remove the bus route from Google and Apple maps. So access to Park Güell is now more difficult for tourists – which doesn’t bother the locals at all.
Residents of La Salut say they are thrilled with the unorthodox approach to keeping the tourist crowd at bay.
Especially the elderly who were significantly affected by the incessant overcrowding on public transport.
The service operates with a compact 20-seater minibus which is small enough to squeeze through the area’s narrow streets, but fills up quickly.
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“Before, the bus was so full, even people with canes couldn’t get on,” Luz Lopez, 75, told Spanish news website elDiario.es.
“We laughed at the idea at first,” César Sánchez, a local activist, told the British newspaper The Guardian. “But we are surprised that the measure was so effective.”
Who removed the Barcelona bus route from Google Maps?
Although it has not been officially confirmed, it appears that the Barcelona city council was responsible for the removal of the bus route.
Speaking to the Guardian, Albert Batlle, the council’s deputy mayor for safety and coexistence, said: “We needed to stamp out 116 references on the internet.”
He refused to admit or deny that the council was behind the move, but a Google spokesman said bus routes could only be deleted at the council’s request.
“The next thing we have to do is remove the whole of Park Güell from Google Maps,” joked Sánchez, who has spent the past eight years pushing the council to address the issue.
And this is not an isolated incident. As Bloomberg reminds us, New York has placed strict restrictions on Airbnb in an effort to restore the supply of apartments for city residents and not for tourists. Amsterdam is telling British ‘party tourists’ not to visit the city over fears they are indulging in too much drink, drugs and sex. Japan raises the price of bullet trains for tourists by 70%. Venice charges day-trippers five euros per visit.
And then there’s the unofficial discouragement: Natives of Medellin, Colombia, recently went to a heavily touristed bar and demonstrated against the patrons. In Spain, anti-tourist protesters target beaches and restaurants.
Amsterdam has a tougher challenge. Barcelona and Venice have some unique attractions and sites that can be priced at higher levels, with an exception for non-payers. Instead, for many Amsterdam tourists the attractions are booze, booze and sex, which have prices set in fundamentally competitive markets.
