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.
GO DEEPER
Crisis clubs: Barcelona – from bust to back in just two years
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)
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.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
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.
This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.
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)
Cameron Brink said she’d appreciate some grace. She really would.
Sparks fans should give her some, because where else is she going to get it?
Certainly not from WNBA refs. Not from opponents with more to play for than ever. Certainly not from the game itself; basketball moves fast, and a bummer can become a bust in a blink.
But Brink, 24, is not on the brink of bust territory, no. Block that thought. Technically, it’s Year 3, but after a torn ACL derailed her as a rookie two summers ago, it’s practically like Year 2 for the former Stanford star. And by design, the WNBA is testing her confidence, her decision-making and her patience as she tries to reestablish herself as one of the WNBA’s best young players.
So, grace.
The recognizable 6-foot-4 forward — she’s the long-blond-haired hooper in the New Balance ads — was the No. 2 overall pick in 2024.
Now she’s her team’s No. 3 option in the post. She’s coming off the bench behind Nneka Ogwumike and Dearica Hamby for the Sparks, who are a modest 6-6 after wins this week over the expansion Portland Fire and the struggling Seattle Storm.
Against the Fire, Brink scored two points and picked up four fouls in nine minutes. Then she went to Seattle and had 15 points in 18 minutes but was pulled with more than five minutes left in the fourth quarter after getting her third, fourth and fifth fouls in 86 seconds. (WNBA players get six fouls before being disqualified.)
For the season, Brink has been called for 49 fouls in 208 minutes. A foul about every four minutes!
They’re silly fouls and they’re phantom calls. Egregious and ticky-tack. Costly and common. A real fouled-up buffet. She sets screens that get scrutinized as if by the most vigilant TSA agent. And sometimes, yes, she’s doing the accidental tripping. Other times, the officials are.
Her reputation precedes her, so everyone gets a superstar’s whistle when being defended by Brink. Opponents bake it into their game plans.
That can’t continue.
All that fouling is hindering Brink’s development because it’s robbing her of important in-game reps — which she needs, foremost, to figure out how to stop fouling.
Sparks forward Cameron Brink, left, blocks the shot of the Tempo’s Laura Juskaite during a game last month.
(Jeff Lewis / Associated Press)
“At the pro level,” said Tara VanDerveer, Brink’s coach at Stanford, “every young player always has a lot of work to do. And I saw her make a three. I see her block shots. She rebounds, she can handle the ball, she’s unselfish, she’s a terrific talent. But there’s always things players need to work on.”
We know what Brink’s thing is.
“She has to be disciplined,” VanDerveer said. “And if you want something so badly, if you want to be an All-Star someday or make the Olympic team, you’ve got to be dependable … and I think anyone can change, if it’s behavior they recognize is not in their best interests or not in their team’s best interests. It’s hard, but it’s something I think people can do.
“That’s what Cam is working on.”
And, VanDerveer added, “I’m really so excited that Nneka is there, because she will give her such great guidance and mentorship.”
And grace. Brink is getting that from Ogwumike — also a former Stanford star, the Sparks legend returned to L.A. this season after two seasons in Seattle — and her other teammates.
“I just do my best to lead by example,” Ogwumike, 35, said. “But then also let [Brink] know that she’s very capable, that she’s more than capable, which is exactly why she’s here with us and it’s exactly why we need her on this team.”
Sparks forward Cameron Brink, wearing a facemask, controls the ball while defended by Sun forward Raegan Beers.
(Joe Buglewicz / Getty Images)
But how long will Brink get grace from the Sparks in the what-have-you-done-for-me-lately business of basketball?
The foul trouble tells us why a win-now team wouldn’t trust her, why the Sparks would give meaningful minutes to two veteran post players ahead of her. Why they wouldn’t prioritize Brink’s development alongside winning as they strive to snap a previously unthinkable five-year playoff drought.
And what about fans? How patient will you all be with a player who was drafted immediately after Caitlin Clark and five spots in front of Angel Reese?
These days, that might depend on what the parlay calls for.
Or, preferably, whether you remember Brink’s first 15 WNBA games. All starts, all signs pointing to stardom. She showed up in 2024 throwing lavish block parties. Her 2.3 blocks per game were message-sending spikes, like what Lisa Leslie used to enthrall Sparks crowds with.
From the jump, she had guys coming to games at Crypto.com Arena wearing her No. 22 jersey and little girls arriving in groups with No. 22 painted on their cheeks and “I love Cam Brink” signs in hand.
And then the torn ACL cost her 25 games of her rookie season and another 25 last season, plus her spot on the United States’ Olympic 3×3 women’s basketball team in Paris in 2024.
She had to start over. Lost a lot of ground. But you see that masked woman stuck on the Sparks’ bench for all but 17 minutes per game?
You can’t miss her. She’s looking uncomfortable in protective facial gear that either hinders her breathing or her peripheral vision, her only options to protect the torn septum she suffered in a victory over the Las Vegas Aces last month.
She’s the one with the 6-8 wingspan who’s averaging 9.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.5 blocks while shooting 52.1% from the field in her limited minutes.
She’s still Cameron Brink. Between fouls, she’s fluid and fast and covers more of the court than almost anyone in the WNBA, able to leap from defending guards to centers in a single bound.
“It’s just looking at every day as a new opportunity to learn and grow and not getting too bogged down when things don’t go exactly as you planned,” Brink told me. “Because more times than not, things are not going to go how you want them to. And that’s life. So I just want to be able to put my best effort out there every single night.
She knows what the Sparks need from her: “To perform, just come on the floor and compete.”
To prove she can stay on the floor to compete.
-
Sports2 minutes ago
Shohei Ohtani held out of starting lineup a day after leaving game with knee inflammation
-
World12 minutes agoPope leaves Spain on plane offered by king after technical glitch
-
Los Angeles, Ca2 hours agoMLB to screen Hollywood classic at drive-ins nationwide
-
Detroit, MI2 hours agoDetroit at Le Mans: Cadillac favorite, Ford poised for 2027
-
San Francisco, CA2 hours agoHudson Pacific lands SF’s biggest office lease in nearly a decade
-
Dallas, TX3 hours agoNFL Brazil tickets are available: Shop Cowboys vs. Ravens NFL Brazil tickets now
-
Miami, FL3 hours agoNorth Miami man accused of stabbing victim 7 times
-
Boston, MA3 hours agoEverything you need to know about Sail Boston 2026
