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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Stephen Burgen in Barcelona

‘Summer will be monstrous’: Barcelona wrestles with revival of mass tourism

A busy beach in Barcelona, Spain
Tourists have been flocking to Barcelona again. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

“Barcelona is for sale but not to the people who live here,” says Silvia Mateu, who has lived in the seafront neighbourhood of Barceloneta for 47 of her 61 years.

For two years Barcelona underwent a forced experiment caused by the Covid pandemic. Visitor numbers that hovered near 30 million suddenly dropped to zero.

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