The lack of determination of the Barcelona municipal government when it came to curbing the massification of tourists in the bunkers of Carmel ended up exhausting the patience of a large part of the residents of the neighborhood.
The guiris still go up to this part of the city well stocked with bottles of spirits, cans of beer and bags of chips. Many jump with impunity the fence installed in the spring in order to stop the clandestine parties in such a privileged vantage point. Despite the fact that we are already in autumn, the regular buses still arrive full to the brim in the steep neighborhood, a circumstance that particularly affects older people. "The Endreça Plan reduces the presence of public servants in the center of the city, but here, the tourists, they don't even touch them. We don't see the Guardia Urbana confiscating tourists' bottles. Around the bunkers they do what they want". And, on top of that, the City Council has not stopped promoting the place as another tourist attraction.
"Let's see - members of the Neighborhood Council of Turó de la Rovira regret - we reported it a few weeks ago, despite everything, the website of the Bus Turístic de Barcelona continued to promote the views of the bunkers in the Carmel neighborhood and, despite that we posted a tweet already in mid-September, the City Council is still doing it! How much does it cost to download a web page? They don't seem to care much, really... In this way, how are we going to put an end once and for all to the overcrowding of the viewpoint?".
The previous councilor responsible for the district of Horta-Guinardó, the socialist Rosa Alarcón, already last term designed the strategy to curb the tourist massification of the Carmel bunkers. And, in red, he emphasized that the City Council had to lower the promotion of the space. A fundamental first step to, in the end, one day, ensure that visitors to this rugged point of Barcelona come more attracted by its history than by the views, that they come to know a little better the Civil War, the barracks in the neighborhood, the stories of Pijoaparte... and not so much to take selfies while drinking cans of beer. The Consistory should review its own messages.
"What stands out most about the anti-aircraft bunkers - you can still read about them on the Bus Turístic website - is the impressive panorama they offer of Barcelona. 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”. Shutting down the echo of so many viral posts on TikTok takes a lot of time. Control of details is paramount.
And just yesterday, after giving an account of the beginning of the asbestos removal work in the area, the new councilor responsible for the district, also socialist Lluís Rabell, insisted on the need to work side by side with the tourist operators with the 'objective of renewing visitors to the viewpoint. "And that's why we have to achieve a change of narrative about this space". The new councilor studied in recent weeks the possibility of charging entrance to the viewpoint, but, as he pointed out yesterday, the idea has been ruled out. Rabell added that the Barcelona City Council will close as soon as it can the bar that recently opened its doors close by. Apparently not licensed.
Mayor Jaume Collboni's hundred days of grace are over and the people of the rugged side of Barcelona have stopped biting their tongues...
"Let's see, even if we have to walk more, many neighbors already take the 22 whenever we can, because we don't fit in the V19 and the 24. The elderly, however, have it more complicated. And we still ask civic agents to manage these flows, but they ignore us. We also ask for bollards to be installed on Gran Vista and Mühlberg streets so that only neighbors can pass, to reduce traffic. The passage of VTC and taxis is exaggerated. By the way, the bollards on Carrer Panorama have been vandalized for months and no one is doing anything. They rise and fall in his air. And, well, we keep asking that they don't let the tourists create a bottleneck, but... We'll see how the neighbors organize themselves."
