‘I went to Barcelona for happy vibes but was met with something much different’

A tourist fresh back from a trip to has shared details of her less-than-friendly welcome to the Spanish city.

Famed for its rich culture centred on delicious food, stunning architecture and an extensive sporting heritage, Barcelona tops the wishlist for many . However, many of the city’s residents have grown weary of tourists, with the number of visitors topping 26 million each year. The city itself is home to just 1.6 million permanent residents.

Travel writer Barri, who runs the account on , shared her experience with her 10,000-strong following – adding that she had been encouraged to visit the capital of Catalonia for its “happy vibe”.

Instead, she was met with several graffiti tags stating ‘tourists go home’. “Everywhere you look, everywhere you go…there’s a tourists go home sign,” she said.

The graffiti is likely to have cropped up during last summer’s anti-tourist protests which saw more than 3,000 locals attend a single event.

The demonstration saw water pistols squirted at tourists, tape blocking the doors of hotels, and ‘tourists go home’ placards brandished at holidaymakers.

The natives’ efforts seem to have gone unrewarded though. Spain’s National Statistics Institute’s latest figures, released on January 3, show the nation received 5.7 million international tourists in November – a 10.3% rise compared to the same month in 2023. “In the first 11 months of 2024, the number of international tourists arriving in Spain reached its highest figure, exceeding 88.5 million,” it wrote.

Among the reasons cited by anti-tourism groups for their displeasure are soaring house prices, with property costs in Barcelona rising by around 20% in the past year, as well as opposition to the city’s tourism-based economy.

Efforts have been made to combat concerns with Mayor Jaume Collboni announcing last year that more than 10,000 tourist apartment rentals will be banned by 2028.