City authorities in Barcelona have come up with a surprisingly simple tool in the struggle against overtourism: keeping a bus route secret from tourists.
Local residents in popular destinations around the world have been demanding action to address a wide range of overtourism concerns, from soaring prices, the loss of residential beds, and even restaurant tables, to environmental damage and over-exploitation of resources, as well as crowding in streets and on public transport.
Barcelona has already introduced several measures to combat these issues, including a hold on any approval of new hotels and tourism rental apartments, put in place in 2017 and action to address the “feeling of collapse” created by huge numbers of arrivals from cruise ships.
No room for elderly locals
But this didn’t help residents of one neighbourhood. A bus route around the hilly Gràcia and La Salut areas, had recently become so overwhelmed with tourists that the local population, especially elderly residents, were having a hard time finding room on the service and “people with walking sticks were left waiting for the next bus,” one 75-year-old local, Luz López, told media.
Route number 116 is operated with a 20-seater minibus, small enough to navigate Gràcia’s narrow streets. But, due to a stop it makes at Park Güell – a 12-hectare collection of parks, gardens with sculptural elements by renowned Spanish architect and designer Antoni Gaudi – the bus had become overrun with visitors to the city, putting locals at the back of the queue.
Solution sounded absurd
To address the problem, city councillors have put in place a solution so simple, residents found it risible at first: removing the bus route from route searches and other internet mapping tools. Cesca Sánchez, of Park Güell neighbourhood association told elDiario. “We laughed when we first heard the idea because it sounded absurd and futile,” she said.
But the council was able to work together with transport app providers “to improve mobility in La Salut neighbourhood around the main access to Park Güell, which among other things included a measure to see if this bus could be removed from the mobility apps,” a council spokesperson said.
While the city authorities are saying it is too soon to assess whether the measure has been effective, locals are reporting an immediate positive impact from the “cloaking” of the route. “We are amazed because the measure really is being effective,” Ms Sanchez said.
