The lack of determination of the municipal government in order to stop the tourist overcrowding of the Carmel bunkers ended up exhausting the patience of a good part of the neighborhood's residents.
The tourists continue to climb to this side of the city well equipped with bottles of spirits, cans of beer and bags of chips. Many of them jump with impunity over the fence set up this spring in order to stop the clandestine parties in such a privileged viewpoint. Although we are already in autumn, the regular buses continue to arrive crowded to this steep neighborhood, a circumstance that the older people especially suffer from. “Pla Endreça is reducing the presence of manteros in the city center, but here it doesn't even touch tourists. We don't see the Urban Police requisitioning tourists' bottles. Around the bunkers they are doing what they want.” And on top of that, the City Council did not stop promoting this enclave as another tourist attraction.
“Let's see – lament members of the Consell Veïnal del Turó de la Rovira –, we reported it a few weeks ago, that despite everything the Barcelona Tourist Bus website continued promoting the views of the bunkers in the Carmel neighborhood! and although we posted a tweet in mid-September, the City Council continues to do so! Is it so hard to download a web page? They don't seem to care much, really... in this way, how are we going to put an end to the tourist overcrowding of the viewpoint once and for all?
The previous councilor responsible for the Horta-Guinardó district, the socialist Rosa Alarcón, already in the last term, designed the strategy to stop the tourist overcrowding of the Carmel bunkers. And in red he stressed that the City Council had to reduce the promotion of the place, a fundamental first step to, in the end, one day, ensure that visitors to this steep point in Barcelona are more attracted by its history than by its views, which They come to learn a little better about the Civil War, the neighborhood barracks, the stories of Pijoaparte... and not so much to take selfies while they drink cans of beer. In this regard, the Consistory had to review its own messages.
“What stands out most about the anti-aircraft bunkers – can still be read on the Tourist Bus website – is the impressive panoramic view of Barcelona they offer. With a height of 262 meters above sea level and a 360-degree view. The space occupied by the anti-aircraft batteries is a privileged place to observe the city with the Mediterranean in the background.” Turning off the echo of so many viral posts on TikTok takes a lot of time. Control of details becomes essential.
And just yesterday, after reporting on the start of asbestos removal work in the area, the new councilor responsible for the district, also a socialist Lluís Rabell, insisted on the need to work side by side with the tour operators with the objective to renew visitors to the viewpoint. “And to do this we have to achieve a change of narrative about this space.” In recent weeks, the new mayor has considered the possibility of charging entry to the viewpoint, but as he pointed out yesterday, this idea has been ruled out. Rabell added that the City Council will close as soon as possible the cocktail bar that recently opened its doors nearby. Apparently he doesn't have a license.
The hundred days of grace of Mayor Jaume Collboni ended, and the people of this steep side of Barcelona stopped biting their tongues... “Let's see, even if we have to walk further, many residents already take the 22nd whenever we can because in the V19 and 24 do not fit. The elderly, however, have it more complicated. And we continue to ask for civic agents to manage these flows. But they don't listen to us. We also ask for the installation of bollards on Gran Vista and Mühlberg streets so that only neighbors can pass through, to reduce traffic. The passage of VTC and taxis is exaggerated. By the way, the bollards on Panorama Street have been broken for months and no one does anything. They get on and off as they please. And, well, we keep asking that tourists not be allowed to drink, but... We'll see how we neighbors organize ourselves."
