Barcelona appoints Jose Antonio Donaire as the first commissioner for sustainable tourism to reduce tourism pressure and protect the city’s identity. Visitor numbers reached 26 million last year, and the commissioner says Barcelona has reached the maximum it can accommodate. The goal is to manage existing tourists rather than increase them. Changes may take time because other tourism actors such as the port, airport, airlines, hoteliers, and travel industry may not align with city plans. Donaire also aims to rescue La Boqueria by shifting it back toward fresh food sales and banning takeaway snacks with the consent of most stall holders. The city previously began curbing tourism with a 2017 moratorium on new hotel construction.
"We've reached the end of the road, Barcelona has reached the maximum number of tourists it can accommodate, he says. We don't want more tourists, not even one more, but we need to manage those we have."
"The appointment of Jose Antonio Donaire as the city's first commissioner for sustainable tourism represents a significant change of heart and a shift away from viewing tourism as an unalloyed good to believing it is alienating citizens and eroding the Catalan capital's identity."
"It could take some time to feel the impact of the changes Donaire proposes, not least because, whatever the city's intentions, other actors, many of them beyond its control such as the port, the airport, airlines, hoteliers and the big-is-better travel industry may not be on the same page."
"La Boqueria, once a haven for chefs and foodies but for years a no-go area for most of Barcelona's residents, will, he says, return to being a market that sells fresh food rather than takeaway snacks, which will be banned with the consent of the majority of stall holders. Within a year you'll see the new Boqueria, Donaire says."
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