I'm Traveling To Spain And Portugel In July- Should I Worry About The Anti Tourist Mobs In Those Places

I suggest first learning to spell the name of one of the countries you're visiting.

In Barcelona yes

I’d be a bit more nervous about Iranians with real weapons in Europe this summer.

Shoot back at the water-gun squirters with a real gun. That'll show'em you ain't playin.

Portugel is just swell

It's mostly a Barcelona (and Catalan) thing now.

Why July?

Bring your own water gun and if they get too close show it. But fill it with soy sauce.

PORTUGAL not Portugel- I am well aware that my spelling sucks but the thing is I know the proper spelling of Portugal so in this case it was an oversight.

R6- I will be in Barcelona for two days- UH OH 😐

Mother and I have not encountered any unpleasantness.

Barcelona is overrated. Madrid is much better. Less touristy, great art museums, a beautiful park and a big gay neighborhood (Chueca).

I am in Barcelona right now and there is nothing going on at all.

I am in Poortuegull right now and there eating Poortugeese tarts.

Water guns. Are you the Wicked Witch of the West, OP?

Are there any Americans on the face of the earth who visit any places besides France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Hawaii, and Puerto Vallarta?

R15 Don't forget their 10 day coach tour of everywhere in the UK.

These days it's fairly easy to blend in almost anywhere in Europe, as long as you're not doing explicitly touristy things. But the truth is, in certain cities you really can't blame them, it's ridiculous how mobbed places get in the peak travel season. Bezos with all his money can't even get a welcome in Venice.

[quote]Barcelona is overrated. Madrid is much better. Less touristy, great art museums, a beautiful park and a big gay neighborhood (Chueca).

I know both cities very well and also prefer Madrid. But Madrid and Barcelona are two entirely different experiences. For a first time visitor, Barcelona may have the advantage of outward charm in its abundance of Modernist architecture, the sense of a strong shift in character from one neighborhood to another. It's quite a beautiful city with a distinct character visually and socially. There's a distinct sense of insider and outsider Barcelona, in few places will you see much of a mix of tourists and locals. Catalans are friendly but they will quickly warn you that they are a cautious people and that you might live in city for 10 years before finally feeling that you are part of any group of Catalan friends. It's a long initiation period but then they are devoted friends for life. The Gaudi and Modernist architecture is well worth seeing (and jostling the crowds and advance ticket sales), the more you see, the more it reveals itself and you begin to see the influence in smaller ways throughout the city. Don't miss spending a good part of a day at the Museo Nacional de Arte de Cataluña, high on a hill above the city, it's an amazing mix of a collection. The quality of food is excellent, you can eat very well in Barcelona, and inexpensively if you like.

Architecturally, Madrid does not have a defining architectural style of its own, its boldest statement is in the stunning architecture, mostly late 19th/early20th Century, along the Gran Via and the Paseo del Prado. It's a city of small neighborhoods full of independently owned shops and restaurants and ancient bars. each shop, each street, each neighborhood with a unique character, fashionable places of the moment next door to a wine seller and a pastries shops that have been there since there 150 years, next to an art gallery. There are tons of shops that are showcases for the owner's personal taste in men's clothes, or 1950s Italian ceramics, or modern interpretations of traditional Spanish tile patterns, maybe all under one roof. It's not just Chueca, every neighborhood, the whole city is very fucking gay,

Both cities are perfect for wandering about and exploring, getting lost then finding where you are and going from there.

As for fears of anti-tourist mobs, I shouldn't worry. The protests have been few and mostly small and in very much more in Barcelona than any other city. Because of cruise ships and organized tour groups, tourists stand out more in Barcelona (and their most frequented places are prime for pickpockets, your only rear fear, so keep your wallet in a front pocket, don't walk in or too adjacent to bike paths, leave nothing valuable in a backpack, don't wander about with your mobile in your hand in Las Ramblas. The frustration with losing a huge percentage of housing and businesses that support locals (grocery stores, bakers, butchers, pharmacies, petfood stoores, etc.) is quite real. Once vibrant streets are now filled with storefront kiosks offering canned drinks and packaged foods, storage lockers for tourist suitcases, micro-shops selling tourist souvenirs, bad fast food, €16 sandwiches of mediocre grade ham, €9 dick shaped waffles (with cream),, ramen noodles, etc. Neigborhoods have been lost to locals and won by shitty AirBnB's whose guests just leave bags of household trash anywhere in the street. It has happened in all the big cities in Spain and it will be a long time at least before any correction is in sight.

Why would you go to Spain and Portugal in JULY, of all months? You're gonna burn alive, OP.

R18. I think you are missing the Gothic quarter. In Winter (the only time to visit BCN) it is spectacular. Gothic quarter, Cathedral, down to the Born, visit Santa Maria del Mar.....breathtaking. I mention Winter because from Spring to late fall those streets are full of tourists.

R18- Thanks- I think I will check out that museum on the hill in Barcelona.

I am not contributing to the problems with air Bnb because I’m staying in a hotel. I have never used those.

R13- Is not me.

There is a sweet shop near my hotel called Vicens . They do sell some chocolate but they are known mostly for their almond nougat treats. They’ve been in business since the 1770s they are decent size chain throughout Spain. They have excellent quality treats. I plan on buying a significant amount of yummy things there. So I am not one of those tourists who does not spend money in stores in Spain. I would describe Vicéns as upscale but not luxury. By the way- I am NOT a FAT WHORE.

Just dress stylishly, get some cool shades, and walk around like you own the place and have a firm destination in mind. They'll never know you're a tourist.

And be careful with those Iberian gays, they're a whole different breed.

It is sad and frustrating to live in the center of a large city in Spain and see it transform in a few years. The Spanish coffee shops and Spanish restaurants and bakeries and small tapas bars and food vendors, the tiny shops that repair shoes make keys and sharpen knives, the artist's studios, the furniture repair places, the ships that sell kitchen utensils, the droguerías that sell cleaning supplies...these things disappear, replaced by Asian Noodle shops, and international restaurants, all the shop names and signage totally in English. The little shops are replaced by scores of luggage locker businesses and the streets a 24-hour clackety-clackety-clackety or luggage roller wheels on cobble stones.

Gone are favorite places to eat or take a drink, replaced with a hundred different gourmet hamburger places, and take-away foods (Spaniards don't eat walking down the streets). Prices rise, the type of food and drink people have known all their lives becomes scarce amongst a sort of shopping mall international food court experience.

And housing for locals disappears. Who wants to rent a modest one bedroom apartment for €500/mo. (5 years ago) or €900/mo. (today) when he can AirBnB it for €200/night, 3-night minimum? Apartment buildings transform from having one or two touristic apartments to being majority touristic apartments, the locals driven out by cost and the "we're on holiday" bad behavior of guests in the city for only a few days.

It's the loss of Spaniards' own cities that's at the root of the reports of "anti-tourist" protests. They don't viciously loathe tourists, they loathe that local governments have been so anxious for easy revenue that they said yes to every concession for tourists and took no care to preserve a reasonable life for Spanish people to live in their own city centers.

r25 Yeah, easy tourist money is unfortunately hard to resist, all that you described is happening in my small city as well. Old buildings getting their façades refurbished to retain the external trappings of authenticity, but inside everything is gutted and transformed into garni hotels.

I was stranded downtown in the middle of the night last week waiting for the bus, and saw the old bakery replaced with a taco place with huge neon signs. It was surreal, never seen a taco place before as they're not a part of our culture. But, tourist is king.

I found both countries to be wonderful places to run away from responsibility after Conrad tried to kill himself. What a hassle that was!

Some of you bitches remind me of this:

I love Barcelona, but the one time I was there in the summer, it was close to unbearable outdoors. The sky was white, you could not see the sun properly, but it was there. Because of the H&H, motionless in the shade was barely a solution. I might as well have gone to Havana.

Barcelona is its own kind of hot -- humid hot. July humidity reaches about 70% and temperatures in the lows 30C range. In Andalucía, the humidity is about 40% and some cities have a good many 40C and hotter days. I prefer the hotter, dryer south, because for me the humidity is unpleasant.

Cadiz, baby.

R18 Another downside to Barcelona is that Catalans are insufferable cunts. No, truly. They want to secede from Spain, they hate the Spanish people and the Spanish language. They are nationalistic to the core. I much prefer the REAL Spain, aka Andalucia, with Costa del Sol, or even Madrid. Why would I travel to and visit a place in Spain that doesn't even want to be Spanish?

For that time of the year go to Menorca, a smaller verson of Mallorca. Although the locals are very angry at the French, who had been snapping up all the properties during the pandemic and driving locals out (as told by our taxi driver).

Worldwide Level Two warning from the US State Dept issued yesterday with specific cautions for Italy, France, Germany, the UK and Spain - “Exercise increased caution. Potential for demonstrations against US citizens.”

Have a great time OP!

R34- Thank you. I shall.

R27- I fully approve of any insertion of Beth Jarrett into any thread including mine- almost as much as the insertion of Vivian Vance in every other thread.