Barcelona Residents Protest Drunk, Naked Tourists Mucking Up Their Town
Are you drunk? Naked? Then please stop going to Barcelona. It's pissing everyone off!
Residents of La Barceloneta, a beachside neighborhood of Barcelona, are upset that tourists have taken over their town with drunken debauchery and fucking around. As AFP reports, protests have begun to get them out of there after Italian tourists were captured running naked through grocery stores in the town last month.
"It's a daily ordeal for us. At night the place fills up with illegal parties, people getting drunk and shouting in the street. It is disgraceful and unbearable," said Manel Serrano, 59, pushing his mother in a wheelchair at one of the demonstrations.
Formerly an old fishing district, La Barceloneta's beachfront became one of the finest spots in the city when Barcelona was renovated to host the 1992 Olympic Games.
Rents have begun to rise as "tourist apartments" are built to hold all the incoming visitors, who flood the beach neighborhood after taking in the city's main attractions. According to a citywide poll, residents voted tourism their fourth worry after unemployment, the economy, and security.
The Guardian reports that the influx of tourism comes from the availability of Airbnb apartments to rent. There are over 600 apartments available for rent in La Barceloneta alone.
Mercé Homs, the city councilor of La Barcolenata, said regarding the drunken hijinks: "We're working to ensure that tourist rentals don't generate noise problems or bother neighbours."
[Image via AP]