A woman visiting Barcelona, Spain, refused to be intimidated by the “go home” signs and anti-tourist graffiti in the city. Her comeback didn’t leave locals very happy though. A cheeky tourist sarcastically expressed her gratitude to the residents of Barcelona for putting up a “tourists go home” sign in the city. During her visit to the Spanish city this week, the young woman came across numerous anti-tourist graffiti messages. So the unnamed yoga instructor and tattoo artist, originally from Ukraine but now residing in Hamburg, Germany, decided to hit back.
She took to the internet to share a photo of herself standing beside the anti-tourist message. She captioned the snap: “Thanks Barcelona for very warm welcoming.” Her post quickly blew up on social media, amassing over 400,000 likes, but it seems to have struck a nerve with some Spanish locals. One responded: “As it should be,” while another bluntly stated: “Go home.” Another Barcelona resident chimed in saying “it’s not funny” and explained that “because of disrespectful tourism we locals can no longer stay in our cities.”
Echoing the sentiment, someone else pointed out: “Prices of everything increase because of mass tourism, it’s not hard to understand. Only Airbnb and restaurants are happy with mass tourism.” “Bro, we can’t live in our city because of the tourists,” lamented another commenter, with yet another concurring: “Not something to laugh at to be fair. Touristy places are pretty much unliveable for locals.” Another person sarcastically remarked: “Laughing at gentrification and the fact that local people can no longer live in their care, how cute.” Yet another added: “Correct, we are overwhelmed by tourism.”
Following the uproar, some people sprang to the holidaymaker’s defence. One individual highlighted: “This is very rude. Spanish travel anywhere and stay at Airbnbs also and generally are loud people. If there is a housing problem it’s the job of the government to fix it and not of tourists.” Another chimed in: “Barcelona is funny, lives on tourism but hates tourists.” And a third remarked: “Good campaign, one less place to visit.” Back in July, British holidaymakers were left shocked and soaked as anti-tourist sentiment boiled over in Barcelona, where locals sprayed water at visitors amidst cries of “we’ll spend our money elsewhere.”
In response to growing concerns around tourism and local housing, last month Barcelona’s deputy mayor Jaume Collboni declared a total ban on short-term rentals set to commence in November 2028, aiming to convert more properties back to residential use. Over 140 groups, including residents’ associations, environmental campaigners, and labour unions, joined the march demanding action in Barcelona. There has also been speculation that tourist tax is set to increase again in the Spanish city, which may deter tourists from visiting too.