Park Güell protestors blocked a key access road in the Carmel neighbourhood on Saturday morning, demanding urgent action against what they call Barcelona’s ‘wild touristification’.

The demonstration, organised by the platform Recuperem el Park Güell, saw around thirty residents cut off vehicle access for an hour in front of the coach park and a main entrance to the iconic site.

Park Güell Protestors Demand Dialogue and Visitor Cap

The protestors are calling on Barcelona City Council to convene a general dialogue table to negotiate a new management model for the park.

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David Mar, spokesperson for Recuperem el Park Güell, expressed frustration that promised measures have stalled. “Everything that was promised and started to be implemented has been paralysed until April,” he lamented. “It seems that during these four or five months there are no tourists, residents don’t suffer annoyances, and the workers are just fine.”

Furthermore, Mar insists the dialogue must include all groups affected by the overwhelming tourism. This includes neighbourhood associations, park workers, and even public transport drivers, as bus lines like the 24 and V19 are among the most saturated in the city. The spokesperson highlighted that the park received over 4.5 million visitors in 2024, a figure he calls unsustainable. “The solutions involve, first of all, reducing that number to two million,” Mar stated. “4.5 million is an outrage that cannot be sustained.”

The group also demands measures to ‘de-touristify’ the area, preventing people without tickets from disturbing residents’ daily lives. They have called for Barcelona to stop promoting itself as an ’eminently tourist’ city. “This not only affects economic sectors, but also demographically,” Mar explained. “You can no longer live in Barcelona because of the prices, and neighbourhoods like Carmel look like tourist sets.”

Consequently, the platform criticises the council’s position and that of Deputy Mayor Laia Bonet, accusing them of making small promises only to backtrack quickly. “It’s tiring and annoying,” Mar warned. “It seems that the only possible option is to leave Barcelona, but we are not resigning ourselves to that.” He added pointedly, “If anyone has to leave, it’s these council managers. Let them go to PortAventura, where they will probably do much better.”

Broader Impacts on Neighbourhoods and Workers

The platform argues that the park’s management is failing on all fronts. They say the ‘wild touristification’ and expulsion of local commerce are being felt in increasingly more areas of Barcelona. Additionally, they complain of ‘contempt’ towards park workers, who are planning to strike, and the ‘collapse’ of public transport. The protestors advocate for a management model that does not act as “a shredder of the surrounding neighbourhoods and labour rights.”

According to the group, tourism pressure is particularly acute in the La Salut and Vallcarca neighbourhoods, where residents are “tired of living in a permanent set” and face inflated prices driven by tourist appeal. The situation mirrors wider city concerns, as seen in the ongoing debate over the Collboni administration’s plan to remove tourist flats, which also grapples with balancing tourism and local needs.

Regarding labour issues, the platform states that BSM, the municipal company managing the park, “does not recognise” the COS trade union section, which it calls the “only and majority” union at Park Güell. They accuse BSM of refusing to dialogue over basic demands concerning worker safety and occupational hazards. “The situation is the same as a year ago when workers demanded salary, labour, and operational improvements,” emphasised Oriol Pla, a member of the Gràcia Labour Assembly.

“They have hit a wall, which is the Park’s management, which does not want to talk or negotiate, hiding behind technicalities and far-fetched arguments,” Pla lamented. “And fed up with this contempt, they have decided to go on strike at the end of this month or early 2026.” The protest highlights a growing tension in the city, where the economic benefits of tourism clash with the quality of life for residents, a theme also explored in coverage of the city’s recent budget negotiations focused on housing.

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