Sports
Barcelona, mass tourism and the protests targeting foreign visitors
If you have visited Barcelona recently, you might have noticed something unusual going on.
Since the early summer, central hotspots such as La Rambla and neighbourhoods such as Gracia and Parc Guell have featured graffiti with the words “Tourists go home”. It’s all part of the same picture. Barcelona locals have been protesting against mass tourism.
On July 6, a demonstration was held in which (according to organisers) between 10,000 and 15,000 people took to the streets (police estimates put the figure at around 3,000). Some even targeted individual tourists, spraying them with water pistols as they drank coffee or ate lunch and cordoning off hotels and restaurants with red tape as they ‘reclaimed’ territory for themselves.
It drew international attention to a problem that has been on the minds of many residents for years. Now, with a consolidated movement raising awareness and taking action, Barcelona’s politics and daily life are beginning to reflect this new perspective — and the city’s most famous football club is watching with interest.
Barcelona start every season with a home friendly when they contest the Joan Gamper Trophy. The tradition dates back to the mid-1960s and pays homage to Gamper, one of the club’s founders back in 1899.
The match is always played in early August, so there are plenty of foreigners among the attendees. This year, Monaco were the visitors (and they beat Barca 3-0 — though any sore feeling over that result has been forgotten in Barca’s strong start to the new league season).
On the route up to Barca’s temporary home on Montjuic (they have been playing at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys since the start of last season while extensive renovations are made to the Camp Nou), leaving from Plaza Espana and taking advantage of the escalators that help you reach the stadium, several tourists spoke with The Athletic about their experience in the city.
Stuart, a 34-year-old from England, said he thought tourists were being treated “unfairly”. He said he “understood the anger and frustration of residents” but thought it was “being misdirected” because “the problem lies with the government and they need to find a solution”.
Another was Giulia, a 34-year-old Italian who has lived in Barcelona for a few years.
“When I first saw the graffiti it made me feel like I wasn’t welcome,” she said. “But I understand that people are p**sed off because I am, too.
“There are always drunk people, normally from England or Germany, screaming without their shirts on. Would you go out in the street in your home town like that? This is not Disneyland. People live here.”
Street graffiti in Barcelona – Guiri is a colloquial term for a badly behaved or obnoxious tourist (Paco Freire/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Marti Cuso has been involved in organising the demonstrations through his role with a residents’ association representing Barcelona’s Gothic Quarter, a central area of the city extremely popular with visitors.
“The responsible party is not the tourist who comes to Barcelona and who wants to go to see a Barca game,” he says. “The responsible party is the whole economic system.
“What we have been denouncing for years is the ‘touristification’ of the economy. Tourism has a very strong negative impact on the lives of residents. It leads to housing shortages with flats turned over to holiday lets, rising prices, degradation of heritage, pollution and the erosion of labour rights. A change must be proposed to reduce the weight of tourism in the city’s economy.
“Flight prices are increasing and the low-cost airlines will disappear. When oil becomes scarce in 20 or 30 years, what will happen to international mobility? We have a city that depends on 30million visitors. We have to generate economic alternatives and do it in a planned way.
“The graffiti alone does not help to make people understand this, although it’s true that it has contributed to the mediatisation of the problem. But some take it very personally, as if we were attacking them. The least you ask of the tourist is that they know that there is a conflict with this, but you should never point directly to them as being responsible.”
Tourists find themselves caught up in the July 6 protest in Barcelona (Josep Lago/AFP via Getty Images)
Tourism is extremely important to Barca. There are many other reasons to visit Barcelona — for the food, the climate, the architecture, art and beaches — but among the many who do come here, its world-famous football club also ranks highly on the to-do list.
Barca’s museum is the most visited in Catalonia and the third most visited in Spain. Club sources — who, like all those cited here, preferred to speak anonymously to protect relationships — told The Athletic that on average 52 per cent of match tickets are sold to people from outside Spain. Over their most recent season at the Camp Nou (2022-23), their ticketing revenue was €71.6million (£60.3m; $79.3m at current rates), of which €37.3m came from tickets sold to tourists. All of this made the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic especially destructive.
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The importance of tourism to Barca has already caused some tensions among the club’s fans. Last season, they introduced a new policy that penalised season ticket holders who did not release their seats for resale if they were unable to make it to a game. It did not go down well with a section of Barca’s ‘socios’ (club members). For the 2023-24 campaign, just 17,552 of the 80,274 who had season tickets at the Camp Nou decided to take up seats at the Lluis Companys.
Protesters in Barcelona – demonstrations have also taken place in other parts of Spain (Paco Freire/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Barcelona’s City Council has already outlined steps in response to growing pressure on mass tourism.
“Our will and commitment to limit tourist massification and its consequences for the city is firm,” said mayor Jaume Collboni (of Spain’s Socialist Party) after the demonstration in July.
A month earlier, Collboni spoke of plans to eliminate more than 10,000 short-term holiday lets, such as those available on Airbnb, by November 2028, returning them to residential use. Limiting tour groups to 20 people, increasing the tourist tax surcharge to €4 a night and setting up a specific plan for the management of heavily visited sites, such as the area around the Sagrada Familia, are other measures in the works.
Barca sources say the club is keeping a close eye on the situation around recent protests. They said they consider themselves affected by any negative news that might make a tourist decide against travelling to the city.
Cuso and the residents’ association he represents are sceptical on two counts. First, they don’t think the measures outlined by local politicians are far-reaching enough (and they also suggest some may not be achievable given the next municipal elections are scheduled for 2027). Second, they do not think the recent protests and graffiti will have any lasting effects on how many people choose to come to Barcelona.
“Nobody will stop coming because of four water pistols,” says Cuso. “The Spanish and foreign media is generating a discourse of fear and it is something that responds to the desire to discredit the protests and their underlying arguments.”
But he does worry more about the impact of mass tourism for Barca fans.
Eintracht Frankfurt celebrate victory over Barca in April 2022 (David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images)
On Apri 14, 2022, Eintracht Frankfurt visited Barca in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final. Visiting fans were officially granted 5,000 tickets. In the end, about 30,000 supporters from Germany made it into the ground — the attendance was 79,468.
It caused great embarrassment to Barca. Since then, measures have been taken to stop a repeat from happening — such as blocking online ticket sales from foreign IP addresses on European matchdays, or not allowing rival colours to be worn in sections reserved for home fans.
More recently, speaking before last weekend’s La Liga match between Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao at Montjuic, visiting manager Ernesto Valverde was asked what kind of atmosphere he expected. He replied: “It’s summer, there will be a lot of tourists, so I don’t expect anything special.”
It is a point Cuso associates with the wider trends of too much tourism.
“Now when you watch a Barca game, every day you have someone different next to you, someone who doesn’t know the chants and who is more interested in taking photos and recording reels for Instagram than in the match itself. This completely depersonalises the experience and betrays the whole identity of what it was like to go to the Camp Nou in the 1990s or 2000s.
“The club has clearly positioned itself as a global brand and is playing this game. But Barca is not a company, even if it behaves like one. They are an exception in the world of football (in that it is one of several which are member-owned). Now in the reform of Camp Nou, they are including more VIP boxes and lounges, which will surely cost thousands of euros. This is the model towards which everything is moving.”
The new Camp Nou will hold 105,000 people. The stadium is not scheduled to be fully completed until the summer of 2026, but Barca are expected to return there before the end of this year at a reduced capacity of 64,00 — although they say they cannot guarantee an exact timeframe.
An increased capacity should mean good news for the many thousands of people on the waiting list for a season ticket, although Barca sources say it has not been fully decided how many extra will be made available.
But one idea is to reserve a proportion for general ticket sales — with the city’s tourists again firmly in mind.
(Top photo: Getty Images. Visual design by Eamonn Dalton)
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The wait is officially over. The FIFA World Cup has arrived.
For the first time ever, three nations—the United States, Mexico, and Canada are co-hosting the tournament. It is also the largest FIFA World Cup in history, expanding to a 48-team field. Squads from around the world have arrived in North America with one ultimate goal: capturing the iconic World Cup trophy.
Here’s the latest look at some of the most notable news surrounding the World Cup.
June 12:
Official Injury Update On Neymar
Brazilian star Neymar Jr. will officially miss Brazil’s opening match against Morocco on Saturday. Neymar was named to Brazil’s 2026 FIFA World Cup squad despite a calf injury, and now won’t be available early on. Manager Carlo Ancelotti said that “Neymar is working very hard to recover as quickly as possible.
“The expectation is that he will recover and rejoin the group next week.”
Google Doodle Has World Cup Fever
In case fans didn’t already have World Cup fever, they can open their web browser.
Google is officially ready for USA’s opener against Paraguay, as the home page features a custom, USA-themed Google Doodle.
The Doodle features red text with a blue outline, as well as a soccer ball along with an interchanging USA crest replacing the “O’s” in Google.
James Cordon Stretches With Christian Pulisic
James Corden joined Christian Pulisic and the United States men’s national team for a training session ahead of their World Cup opener against Paraguay.
After meeting with head coach Mauricio Pochettino and going through a film session with the players, Corden and Co. hit the pitch for practice, where he helped serve as a water boy.
Corden tried to help Pulisic stretch out his legs after practice before he was stopped by a member of the coaching staff. As Corden walked off, Pulisic sprayed him with a water bottle.
DR Congo Arrives to the World Cup in Style
The DR Congo men’s national team isn’t set to play until Wednesday, June 17, against Portugal in Group K, but they’ve already made a statement upon arrival in Houston, Texas.
The squad arrived in style, stepping off the plane in striking black, jaguar-inspired outfits that quickly turned heads. The bold look fits their nickname, Les Léopards, and sets the tone for their World Cup presence before they even face Portugal.
DR Congo may be heavy underdogs, but they’re already winning where it counts off the pitch, taking the fashion battle before kickoff.
Canada’s Jesse Marsch Takes Dig At USA
The Canadian men’s national team is set to face Bosnia and Herzegovina on Friday afternoon. Ahead of the match, head coach Jesse Marsch took a subtle jab at the United States men’s national team during his remarks on Thursday.
“In the U.S., we had to beg players to sing the national anthem,” Marsch said.
The United States conducted a months-long search for a new head coach in 2023, with Marsch emerging as the frontrunner and making it clear he wanted the job. Instead, they chose to rehire Gregg Berhalter, a decision that may have left Marsch with some lingering resentment.
Marsch’s subtle jab could take on added stakes if the United States and Canada meet during the FIFA World Cup. The two nations could potentially face off as early as the Round of 32 or the Round of 16.
June 11:
The pressure of competing in the 2026 FIFA World Cup is high, but that hasn’t stopped players from enjoying some downtime with their teammates. Norway star Erling Haaland was spotted at the Stanley Cup Final between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Carolina Hurricanes.
Haaland appeared to be enjoying himself as the Hurricanes secured a Game 5 victory, taking a 3-2 series lead over the Golden Knights. The Manchester City striker drew plenty of attention from fans in attendance as he took in the action from the stands.
The Norway star was seen celebrating in the stands before turning his attention back to international duty, with Norway set to face Iraq in Group 1 play on Tuesday, June 16.
Australia Coach Popovic Signs Extension
Australia coach Tony Popovic has signed a contract extension through early 2027 on the eve of his team’s World Cup opening match against Turkey on Saturday.
Football Australia said Friday that the 52-year-old Popovic’s deal now extends through the Asian Cup, which will take place in January and early February in Saudi Arabia.
The former Australia international was hired in September 2024 and led the Socceroos to qualification for the 48-team tournament.
“I’m proud to lead my country into a World Cup, but most importantly, I want to ensure that our team is fully prepared and focused on our group matches against Turkey, the United States, and Paraguay,” he said of Australia’s opponents in Group D.
Canada Captain Sidelined For Opening Match
Canada’s captain and star defender Alphonso Davies will miss Canada’s World Cup opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Davies’ status has been questionable due to an ACL tear and other injuries during the club season, which limited Davies to appearing in two of Canada’s last 21 games.
Davies is one of the co-host’s more valuable players in terms of talent and experience, including 58 appearances in nine years with the national team. However, Davies’ injury does not rule him out of the entire tournament. His injury update and restraint from the opening match serves as a caution to heal his injury as the group stage unfolds.
After playing for the Vancouver Whitecaps in the MLS, Davies transferred to Bayern Munich, where he’s played since 2019. Canada is set to play Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 12, followed by Qatar on June 18 and Switzerland on June 24.
Captain Wataru Endo Withdraws From World Cup
Just ahead of Japan’s opening match against the Netherlands on June 14, captain and midfielder Wataru Endo has withdrawn his name from Japan’s World Cup squad and paired it with his national team retirement, per his statement on X. Endo has been dealing with an ongoing ankle/foot injury since February.
Endo has played for the Japan national team for over a decade, where he made 73 appearances and scored four goals. As a veteran anchor in the midfield, Endo has also served as Japan’s captain since their previous World Cup in 2022, where they reached the Round of 16.
As for Endo’s professional career, he first played for Shanon Bellmare from 2010-15, followed by the Urawa Red Diamonds from 2016-19, VfB Stuttgart from 2019-23 and has played for Liverpool FC since 2023. With Liverpool, Endo played a prominent role in the team’s Carabao Cup victory in 2024.
With Endo out, Japan has officially called Borussia Mönchengladbach midfielder Shuto Machino to join the 26-man roster. Machino is entering his second World Cup and his fifth year with the Japan national team.
Marco Senesi Called Up To 26-Man Roster
Following the injury of defender Leonardo Balerdi, Argentina has officially called up defender Marcos Senesi to the 26-man roster. Argentina is set to open their World Cup campaign on June 16 against Algeria.
Senesi has been training prior in case of a last-minute call-up, and was named to the roster after Balerdi’s muscle injury was ruled out. Senesi has played professionally since 2016, playing for clubs like San Lorenzo, Feyenoord, AFC Bournemouth and is currently with Tottenham Hotspur.
Joining Senesi in the back are defenders Lisandro Martínez, Nicolás Otamendi and Cristian Romero.
In what’s likely to be Lionel Messi’s last World Cup, Argentina will look to repeat their historic 2022 World Cup win this tournament.
Tyler Adams, USA Celebrate Shocking Knicks’ W
Tyler Adams, United States’ midfielder, is a fan of the National Basketball Association’s New York Knicks. The Knicks are in the NBA Finals, on the eve of the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, so members of the United States’ squad gathered together to watch what turned out to be the largest NBA Finals comeback in history, with the Knicks coming out on top.
When New York won, the room erupted, with Adams especially going wild. And we know this because the reaction was caught on camera in the moment.
That couch is destroyed, but at least no one watching the game ended up as damaged as it did after Adams went climbing and kicking all over it! If the United States ends up having a major comeback or win in the World Cup, maybe keep the players away from any obstacles like that, though. Just to be safe.
Morocco Loses 2 Players To Injury Before World Cup
Morocco replaced two injured players in its World Cup squad ahead of an opening game against Brazil, including star winger Abde Ezzalzouli.
FIFA confirmed late Wednesday that former Barcelona player Ezzalzouli and Marseille defender Nayef Aguerd were withdrawn from the Morocco squad for the tournament.
Ezzalzouli helped Real Betis qualify for next season’s Champions League and was a potential breakout star at the World Cup. Aguerd was a cornerstone of Morocco’s historic semifinals team at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
They were replaced by Amine Sbai of French club Angers and Marwane Saadane, who plays in Saudi Arabia for Al Fateh.
Morocco opens against Brazil on Saturday at MetLife Stadium near New York, then plays Scotland on June 19 near Boston and finishes Group C against Haiti on June 24 in Atlanta.
Ezzalzouli injured his right knee in a warmup game against Norway last weekend, though initial tests suggested he could be retained in coach Mohamed Ouahbi’s squad to play in the knockout rounds.
Surprise World Cup Comeback For Austrian Midfielder
The last time Dejan Ljubicic played for Austria was nearly three years ago. Now a teammate’s injury has given him a surprise comeback at the World Cup.
Austria coach Ralf Rangnick called up Ljubicic late Wednesday to replace key midfielder Christoph Baumgartner, who injured his right thigh while warming up for a pre-World Cup friendly against Tunisia last week and needed surgery.
Ljubicic is set to join Austria at the team camp in Santa Barbara on Thursday, ahead of the team’s first game on Tuesday against Jordan. Austria also plays Argentina and Algeria in Group J.
He’s more of a defensive midfield option than Baumgartner, who scored 17 goals in all competitions for Leipzig in Germany last season and has remained in camp to support the team.
Ljubicic also plays in Germany on the Schalke team which secured promotion from the second division last month.
Ljubicic has nine games for Austria but none at a major tournament. His last appearance was in a friendly against Moldova in September 2023, and he wasn’t in the squad for any World Cup qualifiers.
CHICAGO — Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani was out of the lineup Friday against the White Sox after exiting the game before with discomfort in the back of his left knee.
Manager Dave Roberts said Ohtani had imaging done on the knee and showed “the normal wear and tear.”
“He feels fine-ish,” said Roberts, who hopes Ohtani will be back in the lineup this weekend. Ohtani remains in line to make his next pitching start on Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Rays at Dodger Stadium.
Especially at this point in the season, the Dodgers have incentive to play it safe with Ohtani’s recovery. Pushing him to return early and exacerbating the injury would be a larger blow to a team seeking its third straight World Series championship.
With Ohtani out, left fielder Alex Call was in the leadoff spot, and Santiago Espinal served as the designated hitter.
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With the largest World Cup field in the history of the tournament, 32 of the 48 teams will be fighting for a spot in the knockout stage.
66.6% of nations will advance out of the group stage this summer, which is a massive upgrade from 50% in past World Cups. Because of this, sportsbooks have adjusted with less favorable odds.
Prior to the start of the tournament, Spain, Argentina, Brazil, England, and Germany entered with the strongest odds to advance from the group stage, supported by recent major-tournament success and talent-rich rosters.
All five nations are heavily favored at -10000 to advance to the knockout round.
The Spaniards are the defending European Champions while the Argentinians are looking to win back-to-back titles. Germany has not made it out of the group stage in the last two World Cups, but has always been a perennial contender— having won four titles in its history. And then of course there’s Brazil, which has more titles than any country with five.
Now, after the conclusion of the first day of the World Cup, Mexico has joined the group at the top. El Tri has surged to -10000 to advance to the knockout stage after initially being just -1400. Mexico’s huge leap up the oddsboard is a direct result of its dominating 2-0 win over South Africa.
With that in mind, let’s dive into the odds for each team to advance to the knockout stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup as of June 12.
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Odds to Advance to Knockout Stage
Spain: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
Argentina: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
Brazil: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
England: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
Mexico: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
Germany: -10000 (bet $10 to win $10.10 total)
Portugal: -5000 (bet $10 to win $10.20 total)
France: -5000 (bet $10 to win $10.20 total)
Belgium:-3500 (bet $10 to win $10.29 total)
South Korea: -2500 (bet $10 to win $10.40 total)
Switzerland: -1800 (bet $10 to win $10.56 total)
Netherlands: -1400 (bet $10 to win $10.71 total)
Morocco: -1000 (bet $10 to win $11 total)
Colombia: -1000 (bet $10 to win $11 total)
Uruguay: -1000 (bet $10 to win $11 total)
Canada: -1000 (bet $10 to win $11 total)
Ecuador: -900 (bet $10 to win $11.11 total)
Norway: -900 (bet $10 to win $11.11 total)
United States: -750 (bet $10 to win $11.33 total)
The U.S. men’s national team is currently -750 to advance from Group D (Photo by Omar Vega/USSF/Getty Images).
Croatia: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Austria: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Türkiye: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Ivory Coast: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Japan: -500 (bet $10 to win $12 total)
Egypt: -340 (bet $10 to win $12.94 total)
Algeria: -310 (bet $10 to win $13.23 total)
Scotland: -310 (bet $10 to win $13.23 total)
Senegal: -230 (bet $10 to win $14.35 total)
Sweden: -230 (bet $10 to win $1435 total)
Bosnia and Herzegovina: -220 (bet $10 to win $14.55 total)
Paraguay: -205 (bet $10 to win $14.88 total)
Iran: -200 (bet $10 to win $15 total)
Czechia: -165 (bet $10 to win $16.06 total)
Ghana: -140 (bet $10 to win $17.14 total)
Australia: -110 (bet $10 to win $19.09 total)
DR Congo: +100 (bet $10 to win $20 total)
Raúl Jiménez helped propel Mexico to a 2-0 win over South Africa in the opening match of the 2026 FIFA World Cup (Photo by Yair Gonzalez/Jam Media/Getty Images).
Saudi Arabia: +105 (bet $10 to win $20.50 total)
Tunisia: +140 (bet $10 to win $24 total)
New Zealand: +150 (bet $10 to win $25 total)
Uzbekistan: +180 (bet $10 to win $28 total)
Cape Verde: +200 (bet $10 to win $30 total)
Panama: +200 (bet $10 to win $30 total)
Qatar: +275 (bet $10 to win $37.50 total)
South Africa: +320 (bet $10 to win $42 total)
Jordan +350 (bet $10 to win $45 total)
Iraq: +450 (bet $10 to win $55 total)
Haiti: +800 (bet $10 to win $90 total)
Curaçao: +1000 (bet $10 to win $110 total)
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