Sports
Barcelona, mass tourism and the protests targeting foreign visitors
![Barcelona, mass tourism and the protests targeting foreign visitors Barcelona, mass tourism and the protests targeting foreign visitors](https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2024/08/29083345/0822_Barcelona-scaled.jpg)
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.”
![](https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2024/08/29084712/GettyImages-2156300861-scaled.jpg)
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.”
![](https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2024/08/29085105/GettyImages-2160278014-scaled.jpg)
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.
![go-deeper](https://cdn.theathletic.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=128,height=128,fit=cover,format=auto/app/uploads/2023/11/19121310/2215_CrisisClubs_Barcelona_2-1024x512.jpg)
GO DEEPER
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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.
![](https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2024/08/29085409/GettyImages-2160375973-scaled.jpg)
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.
![](https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2024/08/29085542/GettyImages-1240041774-scaled.jpg)
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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Sports
Novak Djokovic upset by Alexei Popyrin in 3rd round of US Open
![Novak Djokovic upset by Alexei Popyrin in 3rd round of US Open Novak Djokovic upset by Alexei Popyrin in 3rd round of US Open](https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/08/usopen.png)
Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic, one of the greatest to ever play the game, was upset at the U.S. Open Friday night. Djokovic fell in the third round with a 6-4, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 loss to 28th-seeded Alexei Popyrin of Australia.
No. 2 seed Djokovic’s loss came just one night after No. 3 seed Carlos Alcaraz, who entered the U.S. Open as the favorite to win the tournament, was defeated in the second round.
“It was just an awful match for me,” Djokovic said. “I wasn’t playing even close to my best. It’s not good to be in that kind of state where you feel OK physically, and of course you’re motivated because it’s a Grand Slam, but you just are not able to find your game. That’s it. The game is falling apart, and I guess you have to accept that tournaments like this happen.”
CARLOS ALCARAZ UPSET IN SECOND ROUND AT US OPEN BY BOTIC VAN DE ZANDSCHULP IN STRAIGHT SETS
Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, shakes hands with Alexei Popyrin, of Australia, during a third round match of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in New York. (AP)
Djokovic had sought to become the first player in tennis history with 25 Grand Slam singles titles. But he instead completed a year without claiming at least one major championship for the first time since 2017. Before then, 2010 was the last time he finished a year without a major championship.
This year marks the first season since 2002 that Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer did not win a Slam trophy.
Djokovic’s third-round exit matches his worst showing at Flushing Meadows, with the only other times he was beaten that early at the U.S. Open coming in 2005 and 2006.
US OPEN PLAYER THAT LOST TO COCO GAUFF ADMITS TO NAPPING BETWEEN MATCHES
![Novak Djokovic](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/08/1200/675/Djokovic.png?ve=1&tl=1)
Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, reacts against Alexei Popyrin, of Australia, during a third round match of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in New York. (AP)
He has reached the final in Arthur Ashe Stadium 10 times, and won the title in 2011, 2015, 2018 and 2023.
However, on Friday, he double-faulted 14 times and appeared physically sluggish and emotionally flat. This comes after securing his first Olympic gold medal for Serbia by beating Alcaraz in the final at the Paris Games earlier this month.
“Obviously, it had an effect,” Djokovic said. “I spent a lot of energy winning the gold, and I did arrive to New York just not feeling fresh mentally and physically. But because it’s the U.S. Open, I gave it a shot and I tried my best. I mean, I didn’t have any physical issues. I just felt out of gas. And you could see that with the way I played.”
![Alexei Popyrin](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/08/1200/675/Popyrin.png?ve=1&tl=1)
Alexei Popyrin, of Australia, reacts against Novak Djokovic, of Serbia, during a third round match of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024, in New York. (AP)
Popyrin will now attempt to reach his first Grand Slam quarterfinal, after beating Djokovic, as he looks to defeat No. 20 Frances Tiafoe, who outlasted No. 13 Ben Shelton in an all-American match that lasted 4 hours, 3 minutes on Friday evening.
“If he serves well, plays well, he can beat anybody,” Djokovic said about Popyrin. “Look, Alcaraz is out. I’m out. Some big upsets. The draw is opening up.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Sports
How the Times' top 25 high school football teams fared
![How the Times' top 25 high school football teams fared How the Times' top 25 high school football teams fared](https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/0fde47a/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5282x2773+0+351/resize/1200x630!/quality/75/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalifornia-times-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fef%2F89%2F0bcfa34045c58048bfdbb3fa973c%2Fwyatt-becker.jpg)
A look at how the top 25 high school football teams in the Southland fared this week.
Rk.; School; This week; Next game
1; MATER DEI (1-0); idle; vs. Bishop Gorman, Friday
2; ST. JOHN BOSCO (2-0); def. El Paso (Texas) Eastwood, 71-14; at Sierra Canyon, Saturday
3; CORONA CENTENNIAL (0-2); lost to Santa Margarita, 31-15; vs. Provo (Utah) Timpview, Friday
4; MISSION VIEJO (2-0); idle; vs. Henderson (Nev.) Liberty, Friday
5; ORANGE LUTHERAN (2-0); def. Rancho Cucamonga, 45-14; vs. Baltimore St. Frances at Orange Coast Col., Friday
6; JSERRA (2-0); def. Aquinas, 35-0; vs. Clovis North, Friday
7; OAKS CHRISTIAN (1-1); lost to Sierra Canyon, 35-10; vs. Eastvale Roosevelt, Friday
8; SIERRA CANYON (2-1); def. Oaks Christian, 35-10; vs. St. John Bosco, Saturday
9. GARDENA SERRA (1-1); def. Warren, 36-0; vs. Long Beach Poly at San Diego Cathedral, Saturday
10; MURRIETA VALLEY (1-1); lost to Servite, 37-17; vs. Murrieta Mesa, Sept. 13
11; SANTA MARGARITA (1-1); def. Corona Centennial, 31-15; vs. Bakersfield Liberty at Trabuco Hills
12; SERVITE (2-0); def. Murrieta Valley, 37-17; at Chaminade, Friday
13; OAK HILLS (1-0); vs. Highland, late; at Palmdale, Thursday
14; VISTA MURRIETA (1-0); vs. Murrieta Mesa, late; vs. Valencia, Thursday
15. CHAPARRAL (2-0); def. Apple Valley, 49-28; vs. Temecula Valley, Sept. 12
16; SAN CLEMENTE (1-1); def. Oak Ridge, 30-23; at La Costa Canyon, Friday
17; UPLAND (2-0); def. Norco, 34-17; vs. Villa Park at El Modena, Saturday
18; EDISON (0-2); lost to Yorba Linda, 22-21; at Lakewood, Friday
19; SIMI VALLEY (2-0); idle; at Royal, Friday
20; CHAMINADE (0-2); lost to San Diego Cathedral, 34-13; vs. Servite, Friday
21; LOS ALAMITOS (2-0); def. Narbonne, 49-6; vs. Mililani (Hawaii), Friday
22; LONG BEACH POLY (0-2); lost to San Diego Lincoln, 42-14; vs. Gardena Serra at San Diego Cathedral, Saturday
23; ST. BONAVENTURE (2-0); def. Birmingham, 41-27; vs. S.F. Riordan at Ventura College, Friday
24; CHARTER OAK (2-0); def. Chino Hills, 34-21; at Muir, Friday
25. PALOS VERDES (1-1); lost to Carlsbad, 33-7; vs. Corona del Mar, Friday
Sports
How much will Arch Manning, college football’s most famous backup QB, play for Texas in 2024?
![How much will Arch Manning, college football’s most famous backup QB, play for Texas in 2024? How much will Arch Manning, college football’s most famous backup QB, play for Texas in 2024?](https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2024/08/29220003/GettyImages-1813247382-scaled.jpg)
In the latest episode of “Fansville,” Deputy Quinn Ewers is urged to call for backup but resists. After a brief exchange with his fellow officer, Texas’ third-year starting quarterback delivers the punchline.
“We don’t need any backup, even if he has great hair and famous relatives,” Ewers said.
The allusion to Arch Manning is both an amusing moment and clever writing in Ewers’ national Dr Pepper commercial. But it also hints at the unique dynamic at Texas. Ewers, the former No. 1 recruit in America, is one of the most well-known names in the sport, a Heisman Trophy candidate who took the Longhorns to the College Football Playoff last year.
Yet Manning, the nephew of Peyton and Eli Manning, grandson of Archie Manning and son of Cooper, still looms large, at least figuratively, because of those famous relatives and Arch’s lofty recruiting status (he also was the No. 1 recruit in his class). That Arch has appeared in two games and attempted just five passes in his Longhorns career yet is still given a wink and a nod in the starting quarterback’s ad underscores the intrigue surrounding him.
But 19 months into his college career, we’ve seen only 27 game snaps of Arch, which only heightens the fascination (fans love the backup quarterback, right?). How much will we see of the redshirt freshman in 2024?
GO DEEPER
Texas is a CFP front-runner. Steve Sarkisian’s next tall task is keeping it that way
Manning remains patient
One of the first questions casual observers ask about Manning is whether he has considered transferring since he hasn’t started. To this point, Manning has given no indication that’s in the cards.
It’s fair to wonder because transfer quarterbacks have become the norm. Of the 68 power conference teams, 43 are expected to start transfers this season, according to Yahoo Sports, a 63 percent rate.
But when asked in December before the Sugar Bowl whether he considered making a move while practicing as third on the depth chart most of the season, Manning said no.
“I haven’t looked into transferring at all,” he said then. “I’m just focused on developing and helping this team in any way I can. And hopefully one day playing for the University of Texas like I’ve always wanted to.”
This summer at the Manning Passing Academy, he reiterated his desire to stay in Austin while acknowledging how tough it is to stay patient.
“It’s tough because you want to be out there playing with your boys,” Manning said in July. “But (it came down to) just realizing there’s nowhere else I want to be, and it was my dream to play at Texas. I’m going to stick it out and play there eventually.”
![go-deeper](https://cdn.theathletic.com/cdn-cgi/image/width=128,height=128,fit=cover,format=auto/app/uploads/2024/07/03100628/070824_MPA-1024x683.jpg)
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Arch Manning and other QBs explain decision to transfer or stay put
Manning and his family put a lot of time and care into the recruiting process. Arch knew what he was stepping into with Ewers already at Texas. The chance to develop under Texas coach Steve Sarkisian, who has a long track record of coaching successful quarterbacks, was important to Manning.
Sarkisian’s pupils include former USC quarterbacks Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and Mark Sanchez, former Washington quarterback Jake Locker and former Alabama quarterbacks Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones.
“Part of your recruiting is your track record,” Sarkisian said at SEC media days. “We’ve been fortunate to coach some pretty good quarterbacks. We’ve been fortunate to do it for some decades now. We’ve been fortunate to have some really good quarterback rooms, and I think the Manning family is pretty well aware of that.
“I think they trained Arch to try to put himself in the best position to try to play in the best conference in America and then ultimately put himself in the best position to further his career playing in the National Football League.”
Because of that plan, Sarkisian doesn’t think Manning’s decision to wait it out has been too difficult.
“I think Arch’s development has been important to the family, and he’s reaping the benefit of those things,” Sarkisian said. “It hasn’t been very difficult at all. I think it’s been pretty simple for him.”
![](https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2024/08/29202632/USATSI_23081874-scaled.jpg)
In Texas’ spring game, Arch Manning completed 19 of 25 passes for 355 yards and three touchdowns. (Sara Diggins / USA Today)
Ewers is entrenched as the starter
Going into 2024, there’s no doubt who QB1 is at Texas and there shouldn’t be. Ewers, who bypassed the NFL Draft to return for one more season, took big steps forward in 2023. He substantially improved in most major statistical categories including completion percentage (58.1 to 69 percent), passing yards (2,177 to 3,479), touchdowns (15 to 22), yards per attempt (7.4 to 8.8) and passer rating (132.6 to 158.6). He also became more consistent.
This year, he’s starting to have the look of a leader. Sarkisian said in July that even though his physical development and progression have been great, he has been more excited about Ewers’ personal and emotional development.
“That has instilled a ton of confidence in everybody in our building,” Sarkisian said. “He walks in that building like he is the starting quarterback at the University of Texas for a top-five football team, and I think that has permeated throughout our locker room. …
“Now do I want more touchdowns, less interceptions, higher completion percentage? Of course. But I think those things are a byproduct of his preparation, are a byproduct of the confidence that he exudes and the way he goes to work.”
History says the Longhorns will need Arch at some point
In each of Sarkisian’s three seasons, he has had to turn to his backup quarterback. In 2021, he benched Hudson Card for Casey Thompson two weeks into the season but wound up needing both down the stretch because of injuries.
In 2022, Ewers missed three games with an injury and missed two more last year. With this season potentially longer because of the 12-team Playoff, it stands to reason that, at some point, the Longhorns need to turn to Manning.
“Very comfortable if Arch goes in the game that he’ll go in and operate and operate at a high level,” Sarkisian said Thursday.
There’s excitement around Manning’s development
Last season was a learning experience for Manning. After starting his entire high school career, sitting on the bench as QB3 was a challenge, especially in his first months on campus.
“There were a lot of tough days. I’m not going to lie,” Manning said in December. “I was never a backup in high school. There are some days when you graduate early, you’re alone in your dorm room and you’re like, ‘It’s another day of fighting for the third-string job.’”
In his first spring game, things were clearly moving fast for Manning. By the time he made his college debut against Texas Tech, flashes of his athletic ability and arm talent were present. But there were still some freshman jitters as he dropped a shotgun snap.
This spring, he showed significant growth. Manning dazzled in the Orange and White game, looking comfortable, confident and in command while throwing for 355 yards and three touchdowns. He was accurate with four of his seven incompletions hitting a receiver’s hands.
With Texas’ 2023 backup, Maalik Murphy, having transferred to Duke, Manning is the clear No. 2 quarterback. Sarkisian said as the Longhorns embark on the 2024 season, Manning has taken a big step forward in his development.
“I’d probably say (he’s) light-years ahead of where he was last year at this time,” Sarkisian said Thursday. “His understanding of what we’re trying to do offensively, the nuances of the scheme, the timing of certain throws, the protections, all of those things. And I just think his overall comfort level and confidence is much higher than it was a year ago at this time.”
On Monday, Sarkisian said he wants to play a lot of players in the early part of the season as Texas develops depth for a season it hopes extends into mid-January. “If you’re in the two-deep, you’re playing in the first half,” Sarkisian said.
Does that mean Manning will play in the first half Saturday against Colorado State?
“We’ll find out,” Sarkisian said.
(Photo: Tim Warner / Getty Images)
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