Is People Squirting Tourists in Barcelona a Warning for Utah?

Tourism Dollars Flowing into Utah 

Every year millions of tourists come to Utah to visit the National Parks, enjoy our lakes, and ski in the mountains. These visitors spend money on food, lodging and entertainment and that money gets pumped into our local economy. 

At the same time, for those living and working in these areas, the streets get busier, and the restaurants have longer wait times. If local residents don’t make a connection between the everyday hassles of people visiting with the benefit to the community, we may see the something like what is happening in Barcelona, Spain. 

Squirt Gun Protests in this European Tourist Destination 

Barcelona is one of the most popular places to visit in Europe. This has begun to create tension with the people who live there. So many people visit that residents say they fill up any available housing and increase the cost of living. 

Neighborhood associations, housing activists and ecologists joined the gathering and argued that "enormous negative impacts" to employment, society and the environment have made it "impossible" for locals to live in Barcelona.   

The mayor has proposed shutting down short term housing to help alleviate the problem, but frustrations are boiling over. Recently, local citizens showed up with squirt guns and shot water and yelled at tourists in the city. This isn’t the only place in Europe that has these kinds of tensions.  

Read More: This Place In Utah Named One Of The Worst Tourist Traps

This may be something to look at here in Utah. As our state becomes higher on people’s lists of places to visit, we may want to look at these problems in Europe. Studying what has caused the tension in Barcelona may save us trouble down the road.