For more details: https://www.euronews.com/travel/2024/07/22/the-end-of-airbnb-in-barcelona-what-does-the-tourism-industry-have-to-say

I live here (![email protected]), the mayor who announced the decision made it so that it would applied after the end of his tenure (that will end in 2027, the decision is supposed to happen in 2028)

The other issue is that even besides tourism, Barcelona is a very attractive city for Spanish people due to the work opportunities, and there is definitely a lack of supply for the housing market. Getting back the Airbnb would help with the mass tourism (which is an issue of its own), but the housing crisis might still be there for a while.

It's a bit different, Amsterdam and Paris are touristic destinations, but not to the same level as Barcelona.

By absolute numbers, Paris has obviously more visitors (22 millions vs 13 for Barcelona and 10 for Amsterdam), but Paris is much more populated than Barcelona.

Also, the type of tourism is quite different. Amsterdam and Paris are more expensive, while Barcelona is still seen as a cheaper destination, which brings a different type of crowd. On the same topic, the average level of income of the people living in Barcelona is quite lower than people living in Paris or Amsterdam, making it even more difficult for people living in Barcelona to compete against either tourists or "digital nomads" coming here to work without paying taxes locally.

Sources

• https://www.statista.com/topics/6314/tourism-in-paris/#topicOverview
• https://www.statista.com/topics/4156/tourism-in-barcelona/
• https://www.statista.com/topics/6025/tourism-in-amsterdam/

Thank you, I do indeed live in ![email protected] !

Regarding the Catalan vs Castilian discussion, I prefer to focus on Catalan at the moment. I can speak Castilian okay, but Catalan is the language of Catalunya, so it makes sense to me to learn it as a mark of respect to the local people, and to integrate in society.

People sometimes say that Castilian is more useful as it is more widely used worldwide, but that's shortsighted in my opinion:

• at the European level, English is much more widely spoken than Castilian (35% vs 13%, and that's without the UK: https://languageknowledge.eu/countries/european-union), so by that logic, every people in Spain should learn and speak English (and indeed, there are some areas of Barcelona where you can now only live in English, so that phenomenon is already happening)
• the local language is always going to be more useful than whatever powerful language is also present locally. If you move to Zurich, learn Swiss German. If you move to Denmark, learn Danish. If you move to the Netherlands, learn Dutch. If you move to Québec, learn Québecois French even if English or European French are more widely spoken.

Your 70-year old neighbors don't really care what language is spoken in Europe or worldwide, but they'll care if you don't learn their language.

Porto un temps aprenent català. Espero que algun dia pugui trobar prou gent que el parli aquí.

Per als interessats, hi ha ![email protected]

Yes indeed. I think in Europe the worst is probably Lisbon, that has basically been overrun by foreigners, but that's a common phenomenon in all major cities.

M'alegra que Deepl ara admet el català. Generalment ofereix traduccions millors que Google Translate.

Fijne avond!

Ich habe, leider ist mein Deutsch nicht gut genug, um die Witze zu verstehen :D

Here in Catalunya it’s an alternate between quite sunny days and more cloudy (like today). Next week should still be maximum 24-25 degrees (15-16 at night), so not too bad.

Great pictures, thanks for sharing

I've started going to a book club at my local library. The library organises everything, provides the book and an animator for the discussions, it's free. One book per month, targeted at Catalan learners.

I'm also going to a neighbourhood communal garden on Sunday, there will be a small poetry/music session over there.

Funny to see Luxembourg mentioned, I've been there once and it was indeed quite nice

I am currently on the Costa Brava, it's nice to be here when there aren't too many people around

Not sure if anyone who lives here hasn't seen it yet, but ![email protected] is a thing.

Copy pasted from another comment, the mayor who announced the decision made it so that it would applied after the end of his tenure (that will end in 2027, the decision is supposed to happen in 2028)

The other issue is that even besides tourism, Barcelona is a very attractive city for Spanish people due to the work opportunities, and there is definitely a lack of supply for the housing market. Getting back the Airbnb would help with the mass tourism (which is an issue of its own), but the housing crisis might still be there for a while.

Jag antar att det beror på. Din kommentar tycks visa att Sverige och de andra nordiska länderna är ganska duktiga på engelska, medan andra länder fortfarande känner sig mer bekväma med sina egna språk.

Vad tror du om engelska blev ett officiellt språk i Sverige om tio år, och om de flesta svenskar talade engelska i vardagen istället för svenska om tjugo år?

Jag bor i Katalonien, och här finns det en ganska bra balans: engelska anses förstås vara det lingua franca som man bör lära sig för att kunna kommunicera med resten av världen, men katalanska är fortfarande mycket starkt, folk är fästa vid språket.

Ostres, no esperava ningú. Un plaer conèixer-te! Vius a Barcelona o en algun altre lloc de Catalunya?

Ούτε εγώ καταλαβαίνω τίποτα χα χα

Goiedag!

Molt bé, m'agrada Valencià! T'interessaria una comunitat !catala para practicar?

Choinnich mi ri dithis Èireannach an latha eile, agus chaidh aon dhiubh a thogail le Gàidhlig. An gabh sin a dhèanamh ann an Alba cuideachd?