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Barcelona Could Use a Few Fewer Tourists Each Year

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The city of Barcelona passed a new law to curb tourism on Friday, as the city has become overwhelmed with visitors – and it’s starting to anger the locals, who are having trouble living daily life. As of last year, Barcelona had 1.6 million residents – and about 32 million visitors throughout that whole year. Yikes.

The new law limits the number of beds available at hotels and tourist apartments, for some reason, despite the fact that of the 32 million people who visited Barcelona last year, 23 million of them were day trippers who didn’t even stay in hotels.

“You’re not going to regulate tourism by limiting the number of beds. They’re not regulating tourism, they’re only regulating where people sleep,” says Manel Casals, director general of the Barcelona hoteliers association.

Needless to say, Barcelona seems a little confused on how to go about this whole thing, but it’s a start.

“What’s positive is there’s a plan to tackle this problem, however flawed that plan is. No one has even considered doing this until now,” says Daniel Pardo, a member of the Neighbourhood Assembly for Sustainable Tourism.

Instead: Go to Cusco, Peru

Cusco is a tourist town, and they really look out for their visitors. Plus: Machu Picchu is here. You can go hiking, and when you’re really tired afterward, you’ll definitely have a bed to sleep in at the hotel you stay at.

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Give Barcelona a break, and plan your visit (to Cusco) with the Cusco Travel Guide.

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