Monday 28 May 2012

THE TOURIST SAESON

 
Sometime, about a month or so ago, a starting pistol was fired, and a thousand mid-range passenger jets, took to the skies, ferrying the sangria seekers and culture vultures towards Barcelona.

Around seven million people visited Barcelona last year, and there was the beginng of a debate as to whether that is too many. This year, what with Spanish the economy having fallen of a cliff, such grumbles will be muted.

It was a relief when they left last October and the city was returned to its residents, and it became possible to walk through town without constnatly having to dodge people staring upwards through the lens of an over sized Nikon camera. 

But it is also exciting to see the place come back to life, the colour and crowds back on the streets and to hear the mix hotchpotch of languages and accents. 
The locals will soon be heading to their summer houses in the mountains or to their apartments on the coast, leaving the residential areas all but deserted. Fom July to September Barcelona becomes a completely international city.  

Still it does mean that there are some places best avoided for the next a few months...like Rambla del Mar.  

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